


The Truth Will Set You Free

by victoriousStorious



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-05-19
Packaged: 2018-05-11 21:09:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5642080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/victoriousStorious/pseuds/victoriousStorious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She thought she had changed for the better, but the weight of the world just seems to be increasing. Maybe the truth will set her free?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Just Wait

February 25th, 2015, 7:45pm

 

“There’s only 15 minutes left and most of the team still isn’t here,” Abby said to the six other national team members in the room. “Not even Pinoe, and this her room!” Abby threw her hands in the air as she scanned the room looking for the blonde midfielder.

“Calm down, Abby” Christie’s ever calming voice told the striker from her spot on the bed. “The other’s say they were running late, and Pinoe is trying to sneak some snacks past Dawn. At least Alyssa, Boxxy, Lori, Becky, Ali, and I were all on time.”

“I know, but… Hope said that the interview is really important and would answer some questions,” Abby sighed. “This past year has been pretty tough on her and it sounds like the interview helped a lot.”

 

The others in the room smiled ruefully. This past year had been tough on the starting goalkeeper who had looked more worn out as the time progressed following her arrest. She was even more withdrawn than usual, choosing to stay in her room rather than hang out with the team. Then when the news about the suspension came out, they all thought that the keeper was done, but they were proven wrong earlier the week when Hope arrived at training camp. She stood up front with Jill as the coach went over some changes and basics in terms of the practices, games, and Hope’s arrival, an important one being that Hope was not allowed to be given or be around alcohol. After finishing her speech, Jill motioned for Hope to speak. 

_Flashback_

_An uneasy smile on her face, Hope started speaking. “Hey guys… umm, I guess first off I should apologize for my behavior the past year not for just the situation I put myself in a month ago. This past year,” she paused for a couple seconds. “Well the past couple years, have been rough to say the least and I have been bringing that with me to the field, and for that I apologize._

_I…” Hope paused again, and her teammates could only watch as someone they thought as a leader struggled with words. “I would like to say that I’ve received all the help I need, that’d be a lie. I…I’m better than I was a month ago, a lot better, but not close enough to where I need to be. To feel well,” she shrugged, “complete. There’s still somethings missing in my life, one of them obviously being a world cup trophy,” that earned a couple chuckles, “but there are other things as well, that I need to figure out on my own.”_

_“Some of you guys may have some questions,” Hope looked around a bit before locking eyes with someone in the group. The person gave a slight nod, before Hope continued, “But I think you guys should wait because some of them maybe answered on the 25 th.” Noticing the confused looks, the goalie continued. “I did an interview maybe a week ago, and it’s going to show at 8 that night. I think it will explain a lot and maybe help you guys understand some of what I was dealing with the past couple years. It could also lead to more questions, so maybe answering question can happen after the interview for simplicity sake.” _

_Seeing many head nods, the keeper took one more breathe. “I just want to let you guys know, that I am 100% focused on winning a World Cup. I’ve already dealt with heartbreak twice when it comes to a World Cup, I’m damn sure not dealing with it again. I’m going to work harder, practice harder, study harder and…well try to not be as introverted.” She said with a smile. “I think…” she hesitated a second before a larger smile appeared, “a lot of you guys are going to meet a different Hope.” With a nod, Hope stepped back before hearing some applause and Jill starting practice._

_End Flashback_

Since that speech, they gals had seen a different Hope. The goalkeeper seemed to be sprinting faster during warm ups, lifting more, her reactions sharper, her decision making better, even her goal kicks seemed more accurate. Ali had heard enough muttering and complaining from Ashlyn after keeper training, often saying that Hope was making her have to run faster. But it wasn’t just on the field, off the field Hope was taking more meticulous notes than before not just for herself, but for her fellow keepers and the defenders as well. Which was another change Hope had followed through on. It wasn’t a surprise to see Julie, being still new, going up to Hope for advice to improve her defending. This was just a couple days into her being back and many couldn’t wait to see what else could happen in the coming weeks.

 

But there was still a small cloud about what was said during the interview. Many still had questions that they talked about frequently when Hope was not around. Kelley had gone up to Hope one day and asked her if her relationship with Jerramy had changed. All Hope did was smile at the forward turned defender and say wait for the 25th and turned back to her food. So they did, anxiously wait for 8pm on February 25th. Finally it arrives and everyone is late.

 

Christie spoke after a minute of silence, “They’ll be here, a lot of them are too anxious to miss the interview. Just sit Mary, they have 8 more minutes.” Abby huffed before flopping on the bed. The seven members in the room waited quietly for a couple more minutes before Ali’s phone went off. Looking down, she rolled her eyes before sending a quick reply and put her phone away.

 

“Was that Ash?” Becky questioned from her spot on the floor.

“Yeah, she was asking for the room number,” Ali murmured, “She wonders why I didn’t go with them, they’re always late.” Which was met with murmurs of agreement. A minute later there were knocks on the door. Alyssa opened the door to the room to let a large of fellow national teamers in including Ashlyn.

 

“Sorry, sorry, pizza took longer than expected,” Ashlyn apologized before lying next to Ali on the bed. “The staff would not stop until we signed basically in the restaurant. I have a hand cramp,” Ashlyn whined holding out her hand and waving it in Ali’s face/

 

“Oh stop you big baby,” the warrior said swatting the hand away. “We know you loved the attention.”

 

“Well that was a big group. Now were missing the new new kids and the two people in this damn room, Kling and Pinoe,” Abby announced after looking around the room.

 

“They went to help Pinoe sneak in some snacks or something,” Tobin answered as Abby threw her hands and groaned before flopping on the second bed. “Also, aren’t we missing Carlos?”

 

“Nah, Carli said she was going to stay with Hope for moral support or some crap like that,” Megan announced as she kicked open the hotel room door, arm full of snacks. She was followed closely by Meghan and the new new kids also with their arms full of snacks. “But I grabbed snacks,” she said and unceremoniously dropped the candy onto the bed that contained Ali, Ashlyn, Alex, Tobin and Kelley. “Did we miss anything?”

 

“No you guys are,” the beginning sounds of the show emanate from the TV, “right on time,” Abby muttered before turning her attention to the TV. Everyone quickly turned to the television, not before grabbing some snacks, ready to finally get their questions answered.


	2. The Interview, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited interview as started, what will the world learn?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ! The interview will bring up the domestic violence case that Hope is currently battling. I do not promote domestic violence in anyway and trust the facts that have been brought up in the case in real life. I have used some of those facts, but I have altered some parts for this story. This is in no way what I think really happened on that day this is a mostly fictional retelling of the events. Just a warning so I don't get hate.

_*The camera pans around a soccer pitch where the US women’s soccer team is practicing*_

 

_“This is the U.S. Women’s soccer team.” Robin Roberts voice overlays the image, “Currently number two in the FIFA ranking.” The camera continues to pan around the pitch as the women practice. “These women are preparing to take on the World Cup this year in Canada, with every intention of avenging there loss in 2011 to Japan.” The video cuts to Japan winning the world cup, followed by the distraught team USA picture. “They’ve gone through ups,” Cutting to the 2012 Olympics video with a small video, “As well as some downs,” a video plays the 2014 Algarve cup loss and Tom Sermanni being fired._

_“But the team seems ready for the challenge under new head coach Jill Ellis. The team features some new players,” the shot fades back to the pitch showing Julie and Moe, “as well as some familiar faces,” cuts to Ali, followed by Carli. “But maybe none as famous as Alex Morgan,” cuts to Alex running up the field ball at her feet, “Abby Wambach”, Alex passes the ball to Abby who heads it towards the goal, “and the team’s most controversial player,” the camera zooms in on the ball before it is parried away by a gloved hand.  A rolling body gets back on their feet and stands up as the camera zooms away to focus on the goalkeeper, “Hope Solo.”_

_Images of Hope over her time on the USWNT overlays the screen. “Solo has been on the team for over a decade. A symbol of consistency as she has been the starting keeper since 2006. All the while protecting the net,” shows a bevy of videos of Hope saves, “Organizing defenses,” Shows videos of Hope yelling and gesturing at the players into position, “and saving games,” shows the Brazil Penalty save before fading to black. “But it hasn’t always been easy for the best women’s goalkeeper in the world._

_The screen then shows a clip of the 2007 controversy and the headlines following that. That is followed by the steroid issue during the Olympics, then the domestic violence arrest in 2012. The clip of Hope’s arrest in 2014, video of her in court, and the headlines of that show next. Finally the suspension in 2015 appears. “All the events for the past years have seemed to culminate to early this year where Solo, having been caught in the team van with husband Jerramy Stevens, who was charged with DUI, was suspended for 30 days. Needless to say many fans, journalist, and analyst alike thought the suspension should be longer. Not for the January incident, but for the domestic violence case which was dismissed as of January 13 th of this year.” Cuts to tweets and videos of analyst and soccer personal bashing the suspension._

_“Despite the controversy, U.S. soccer has not wavered in their decision, but something seem to wavier within Hope.” The video now cuts to Robin Roberts, bundled up, walking up to a beautiful home, the trees surround covered with a light dusting of snow. “About halfway through her suspension, Hope Solo’s team reached out to us at ABC to do an interview. An interview that Hope said would answer a lot of questions…”_

 

 

“This beautiful house behind me is the home of Hope Solo,” Robin says standing in front of the three story house. “Given that she is not allowed to travel due to her suspension, Hope agreed to do the interview her in her home.” The newscaster turns knocks on the door and barking can be heard from behind it. After a beat, the door creeps open revealing two large Dobermans and the suspended goalkeeper. The goalkeeper, dressed in a white sweater and jeans, gave a small smile before pulling the door wider to let the newscaster and crew in.

 

“Hello Robin,” Hope’s soft voice greeted. “Thanks for doing the interview.”

 

“It’s no problem at all Hope,” Robin replied shedding her layers as she entered the warm house. “Your house is beautiful.” She looked around taking in the surroundings.

 

“Thank you.” Hope closed the door once everyone was inside. “I figured we could it in here,” she guided the crew to a section of the house that featured a white couch that faced a chair. “I may have someone joining the interview later which is why I chose the couch… is that okay?” The goalkeeper looked very meek looking at Robin.

 

“That’s absolutely fine, Hope,” Robin said with a smile. “The room is perfect just give us a couple minutes to set up and we’ll call you when we’re all set up.” Hope nodded with a smile before heading out of the room, Sasha and Onyx following closely behind.

 

_“Coming up.” Robin’s voice over lays the picture again as videos of what is coming up appears on the screen, “We find out why Hope has called this interview…and what really happened the night of the domestic violence incident.”_

 

 

 

“Well that was a whole lot of nothing,” Pinoe muttered around a handful of popcorn. “It was mostly just a history lesson.”

“Maybe they’re were just trying to refresh everyone’s memory of who Hope is?” Becky spoke up. “I feel like sometimes people forget how much Hope has gone through.”

Abby nodded, “That’s true. Obviously some of it’s the media and some of it’s her own doing, but to go out there and still make saves the way she does. It’s like stuff doesn’t faze her.”

“But maybe that’s the problem,” everyone turned to look at their captain. “It looks like that stuff doesn’t faze her. I mean when we’ve had a rough day, it shows in the way we kick, how we run, how we treat our opponent. Really the only time we see Hope angry on the field is if a goal is let in.”

“Even then, she curse and mutter for like a minute before going right back to how she was before,” Becky brought up. Nods of agreement followed that statement.

“Exactly. I mean, we all know that Hope is an introvert and is very private. She’s also her biggest critic. Knowing how much pressure the media puts on her, fans put on her, we put on her, and she puts on herself, she’s keeps that bottled up inside and was being worn down by it. And given what happened to her back in 2007, she doesn’t like voicing how she feels and we don’t ask. All these issues that happen, do faze her, but in her eyes, and to be honest, in a lot of our eyes, she can’t be distracted because it could lead to a game-winning goal being let in. She has to be our immovable, impassive rock and we don’t really let her have the chance to show a little emotion.”

Christie’s words seemed to ring in the teams ears. Everyone seemed to look down, not speaking. Each woman knew that the captain had spoken the truth. They knew that if there was any lapse defensively, there was always Hope. Number 1 was going to be that strong presence, but sometimes the strongest person as a weakness, and they never let her show it.

Before they could stew in their thoughts any longer, the television proceed to play music, indicating that the interview was coming back on.

 

 

 

The program came back with Hope now seated at the sofa and Robin sitting across from her in the chair.

“Well now that everything is set up, why don’t we go ahead and get started?” Robin asked with a small smile. “Just to clarify for our audience, we here at ABC did not reach out to you for this interview.”

“No, No,” Hope replied with a shake of her head. “I, myself, told my camp to get into contact with you.”

“And why is that?”

“To put it simply, I have some, well maybe a lot of, information I wanted to let everyone know in regards to my life. This includes my uh...” Hope shifted around a little, “domestic violence situation as well as my suspension that I am currently serving while this interview is being conducted.”

“And why now? Why on the cusp of the Women’s World Cup have you decided to…release this information?” Robin asked genuinely interested in what the keeper’s mindset was.

“Honestly? It wasn’t until I talked with my therapist during this suspension that I realized how much I was hurting myself and the team by keeping this knowledge to myself. I…I just don’t know where to start.” Hope looked a little lost as she stared back at the African-American woman.

“Let’s start with this suspension. You have been suspended from the United States National Team for incident involving you and your husband Jerramy.”

“Yeah, umm… to start off I want to apologize to everyone about that incident. I’ve apologized to my team and US soccer already, but I feel as though it has to be reiterated again how regretful I am about what happened that night. I,” Hope stopped for a second, “I can’t even explain what I was thinking that when I let Jerramy get behind the wheel, but I take full responsibility for my actions.” Hope then averted her gaze and seemed to be staring off at something in the distance before she started speaking again. “And while I can’t remember what exactly I was thinking, I can infer given how I have been feeling the last couple…”she trailed off.

“Weeks? Months?” Robin pushed.

“Years,” Hope answered turning her gaze back to the reporter.

“Years?”

Hope nodded. “When I first sat down and thought about everything, I was think ‘Oh this started right after the domestic violence arrest’. Then it was ‘no wait, after the Algarve Cup’ since we played so horribly. Then I kept looking back and realized it wasn’t then, it wasn’t after Jerramy’s arrest in 2012, the steroid issue during the Olympics…” Hope took a breath. “It was right after the World Cup, right after we lost…”

“After the World Cup?” Robin asked slightly incredulous, “that’s 3, 3 and a half years ago now.”

Hope nodded with a sad smile. “I know, trust me. To sit there and realize that this…weight, this... baggage has been holding me back for that long…it was a lot to take in.” Hope than shook her head. “And at first it was small, just the World Cup lost. Then you add on the steroid controversy, the arrests, the twitter feuds,” then a scoff emits from the goalie’s mouth as she got more frustrated, “competing on Dancing with the stars, which was a bad move on my part. All of this  and more was just,” Hope started to gesture with her hands, stacking them on top of each other, “started to build up and build up,” she dropped her arms back down, “and I didn’t do the correct things to rectify it.”

“What did you do?” Robin asked softly noticing how her interviewee was getting worked up.

Hope gave a chuckle followed by a rueful smile. “I turned to alcohol. Drank my sorrows away. A really bad idea given my family’s history with alcohol.” Hope shook her head and continued, “I didn’t let anyone in, didn’t let anyone have the chance to comfort me. Just let the alcohol do it. Instead of talking it out, I tried to drown it out.” Another chuckle escaped. “Obviously didn’t work as well as I had hoped?”

“But now you‘ve gotten help for that?” Robin asked trying to encourage the keeper.

“Wrong tense, Robin.” Hope replied with a smile. “I am getting help for that, I will continue to get help for it. It just took this suspension to do it. It took being forced away from the sport that I love to finally realize that I need help…not just for the alcohol use, but for everything.”

“And that’s the question, Hope. What is everything?” Robin pried. “I can see that you are still hiding somethings.”

Hope laughed a bit before ducking her head. “No, Robin. I’m not hiding, just trying to figure out how to go about it.” She looked back up. “The pressure I was putting on myself was a big reason for going to a therapist. The alcohol abuse was a big reason for going to a therapist. But the biggest reason,” Hope paused and licked her lips. She blinked back some tears and inhaled deeply. “The biggest reason is that…I felt like I had lost who I really was.” She laughed quietly to herself. “Over the past 3.5 years, I’ve been under some kind of pretense that I know who I am, but in reality I haven’t.”

“The real reason why the World Cup was such a turning point was because of the spotlight that was put on me. The penalty kick save,” Hope shook her head, “was the greatest and worst moments of my life. That save put me on this giant pedestal that I wasn’t ready to be put on. All of a sudden, posters everywhere, so many jerseys with the number 1 and ‘SOLO’ printed on them. My name being called everywhere I go, countless phone calls about being in this commercial, or interviewing for this TV show, or pose naked in this magazine.” Both interviewer and interviewee smiled at the last one. “I should’ve been happy. My name was out there in a positive light, I was making money…”

“But?” Robin asked.

“But, I was losing who I was. With all these interviews and promotions and what not, came people telling me what I had to do. How I had to dress, how I had to eat, how I had to speak, just how I was supposed to act in general. All of a sudden my closet was getting changed around, I was getting etiquette lessons taught to me,” Hope scoffed, “people were treating me like I wasn’t human up until the World Cup.”

“And what did you do?”

Hope smiled sadly and shook her head. “I went with it. I knew how I felt, but didn’t do or say anything to change it because I was worried that if I didn’t do this, if I didn’t change the way I spoke or ate or dressed, that people would stop caring about me, would stop liking me.”

“And people are?”

“Fans, media, teammates a little bit,” Hope shook her head again. “So I did it, I changed what people told me to change. The end results: I became an alcoholic, I lost sight of I was as a person, I lost friends who cared about my well-being, and…” She licked her lips. “The relationship between me and those I considered my family was destroyed.” Hope’s stare focused intently on the camera at hat statement.

 

_The TV faded again to a video of the coming part of the interview. “Coming up.” Robin’s voice once again echoes in, “Hope discusses the night that has had everyone talking…and later she relays some news that is bound to shock the world.”_

 

 

 

 

The hotel room was once again filled with silence each soccer player lost in their thoughts after hearing what their teammate revealed to them.

“I…” Abby started causing her teammates to turn to her. “I…” she tried again before clearing her throat. It shocked her teammates to see Abby, who seemed to always be ready to talk, stumble over her words. “To think…all this time she felt this way. And we didn’t…” she trailed off bowing her head, many of the team following the same motion. It was quite before someone’s phone went off. Morgan looked down to read the text message.

“It’s a message from Carli,” the midfielder announced causing heads to snap back up quickly. “She says that Hope has a feeling that you guys are blaming yourselves. She wants you guys to know that she doesn’t blame you, that you guys didn’t know. She knows that you would have done something to help had she not kept it to herself.” Morgan finished reading the message.

“She may not blame us, but we still didn’t help,” Abby spoke back up. “Regardless of whether or not she told us, we didn’t pick up on it. And if we did pick up on it, we didn’t act on it. How many of us noticed that Hope seemed upset about something or seemed more tired and didn’t say or do anything about it? We shrugged it off and thought she’d get over it, because I know more than a handful of times I’ve done it.”

“I use to,” Kelley spoke up quietly. “Leading up to the Olympics, when she was helping me become a defender, I would notice when she would get that way. I’d ask and rarely would she go into details about it. Usually she would just brush it off. Then I would try and pry sometimes and it seemed to open her up a bit more. But after the Olympics, I kind of…stopped I guess. We weren’t talking as much and slowly it was not at all.” Kelley seemed to fold in on herself.

“But at least for a while you tried Kell,” Alex spoke up trying to comfort her friend. “I know just starting off on the team, I didn’t go near Hope. With what older players were telling me and what she was made out to be in the media, I really thought she was this cold-hearted bitch who didn’t care about anybody but herself. I never took the time to know her. I mean the more we hung out on the team, and the short season on the Sounders, I got to know her more and I can talk and have a great conversation. I just wish I had done that initially and not waited to do so.”

Ashlyn nodded in agreement, “I felt the same way, plus she was my competition. I thought she was going to be this mean spirited person, focused solely on reminding me that I have no chance of taking her place as the number one goalkeeper. But it was never that.”

“It was the opposite actually,” Alyssa spoke up. “She’s always willing to help us out. We can ask her questions and she’ll answer it without hesitation. All she wants is what’s best for the team, even if that means she’s not a part of it.”

“She called Ash before and after the France game,” Ali mentioned, Ashlyn confirmed with a nod.

“I didn’t expect the first one, but apparently Ali told her that I was nervous, so she called. It really helped knowing that the best goalkeeper in the world had my back. Then after the game she called and told me about how those goals were nearly impossible to save and to not beat myself up about it. I still did, but not as much knowing that she would have had trouble with those.”

 “I think each of us have been guilty of judging Hope before we actually go to know her. It’s too late to fix the initial meeting, but we can change how we act from now on,” Abby declared. The team nodded. The music started back up on the screen. “Seems like we’re just in time to hear the next segment and it sounds like it will be a big one.”

Another message came through Moe’s phone which she quickly read aloud. “Carli says that this is probably one of the most, if not the most important, part of the interview, so no bathroom breaks.” The group chuckled.

“Aww man! Just when I had to go,” Megan said faking sadness. Some laughed, but most just rolled their eyes turning their attention back to the interview.

 

 

 

“You brought up your family, so if you’re alright with it, we can go to June 21st.” Seeing Hope nod, Robin continued. “You have maintained your innocence this entire time, but exactly happened from your eyes?”

Hope sighed before starting, “Let me first give some background on this incident. This incident happened between myself, my older half-sister Theresa and my nephew who, at the time, was 17 years old. Growing up, my sister and I were close. With my mom was dealing with her own alcohol issues and my dad in and out of the picture, she was a constant in my life that I could depend on. She helped me become the soccer player I am today. And for a while everything was great.”

“But?” Robin asked this single word like she had previously.

“But, like I had changed after the World Cup, so did she. When the money started to come in, so did the asking of money. For her cable bill, a car payment, to but my nephew some new clothes. I didn’t think nothing of it, I was helping my sister, it was the least I could do. It all kind of changed back in 2012 after Jerramy was arrested for “abusing me”,” Hope gestured with air quotes. “I had stopped talking to Marcus, my brother, after that incident and was kind on edge with my family for a bit. I had decided that I had done enough for my family for now and unless there was a really big financial issue, I would not step in and help. A week or two after I made that decision, Theresa came to my door asking for money. I told her no and she wasn’t happy”

“Having siblings myself, I can assume that this didn’t go over well?” Robin asked with a grim smile.

“She told me I was selfish and was just as the media portrayed me to be. Called me a heartless bitch, that she hoped I’d never had kids cause they’d be as fucked up as me. That dad would be disappointed in me…”

“Ouch,” Robin cringed. “That didn’t go over well. What happened after that?”

“I just looked at her for a while after she finished yelling. Then I pointed to the door and told her that if she was unhappy she knew where the door was. She yelled a bit more and left.”

“Did you hear from her before…?”

“Oh, yeah I did. Like I wished happy birthday and like still tried to communicate with her. I didn’t want to ice her out completely because she had always been there for me and with Marcus being out of the picture...”

“You didn’t want to lose two siblings?”

“Basically, so I slowly started talking to her again and I thought we had made some progress. But then…”

“June 21st happened.” Robin finished seeing the goalkeeper pause. She sat patiently seeing that Hope was struggling. “Whenever you’re ready, Hope.”

Hope took a deep breathe and toyed with her ring before continuing. “That day I caused my life to change drastically and changed how I will forever be perceived by the public eye. I was arrested on two counts of misdemeanor assault in the fourth degree and have since been called a child abuser. My name seems to have been raked through the mud even worse than before and I’m left now trying to clean it up.” Hope shifted slightly, before continuing, “Ultimately, the charges were dismissed due to a lack of cooperation by my sister and nephew and because of the inconsistences in their stories, one in particular.”

Robin nodded, “You say one in particular…”

Hope had a small smirk on her face, “When Theresa called the police, she told them I was drunk. That I was drinking out of a bottle when they got home and was completely wasted.”

“And you’re saying that was not true?” Robin questioned.

“I’m saying that’s not true and the breathalyzer I blew into says it’s not true. The police determined that while I was slurring my speech a bit and was disoriented, I was not drunk.”

“So…did the blow over the head cause this?”

Hope smiled shaking her head, “No. What caused it was medicine I take right before I fly.”

Robin’s face showed confusion, but Hope proceeded on. “Many people, my family, friends, teammates, anyone who has read by book, know that I am terrified of flying. It’s funny given my profession, but I am a downright mess when I fly and teammates literally drew straws to see who would have to sit with me. ( _In the hotel room, most of the older players were nodding along to Hope’s statement. Hope was one of the worse people to fly next to back in the day_ ). Because I really couldn’t get over my fear, a doctor prescribed me Xanax, which I know take before I fly so I’m asleep before takeoff. If you guys want a confirmation, you can ask my physician or one of my teammates who are constantly make sure I have taken the pill before I fly.”

Robin nodded before motioning for the other woman to continue. “So my slurred speech, memory problems and drowsiness were all just some left over side effects from taking a Xanax. I should probably mention how much I hate relying on pills and usually try other treatments before having to take medicine. I am not addicted to Xanax at all, I only use it when I fly, and that’s it.”

“So you were taking Xanax for flight anxiety, but you weren’t…”

“But I was Robin,” Hope said with a smile. “When I had arrived at my sister’s house, I had just arrived back in Washington.”

“From where?”

Hope paused again and seemed to be choosing her words carefully before speaking. She toyed with the ring on her finger and looked Robin straight in the eyes. “I had just come back from visiting my partner.” ( _Gasps of shocked echoed through the hotel room at the revelation_ ).

Robin looked bewildered at that statement while Hope gave a coy smile. “But you’re…”

Hope finally stopped messing with the ring. She looked at it before slowly sliding it off. “This ring,” she spoke softly as she slid it off and placed it on the table before lacing her fingers together, “while beautiful and very large, is also very much a loan and does not signify a real marriage.” Seeing Robin’s, and the cameramen’s for that matter, confused expression, Hope continued. “If you look up the name Hope Amelia Solo, which shouldn’t be too difficult since there is only one, you will see that there is no record of divorce and no record of marriage anywhere.” The keeper licked her lips before continuing. “Jerramy and I are close friends, he’s probably my best friend, and we have never been married.” Hope’s smile grew a bit.

“But why?” Robin seemed to have finally found her voice. “Why lie about being married?”

“Because the one I love,” Hope placed her hand over her heart. “The one who has held my heart for a long time, they…” Hope paused and shook her head. “SHE ( _Mouths fly open and Pinoe said a very eloquent ‘holy shit’_ ) is a very private person. She has never liked her personal life out in the open for all to see. Once I got famous and people started to pry about my relationship status, it made her and me very uncomfortable. So we made a decision for Jerramy and I to be fake married. Jerramy, and his wonder girlfriend Tanya, were more than happy to help and so the marriage was formed. It looked like a good idea, but people still pried, my family wasn’t happy, and apparently Jerr and I seem to take whatever negative energy we have and do something extremely stupid. Case in point, a couple weeks ago.”

“All of this…”

“Love makes you do crazy things,” Hope said with an easy smile on her face.

Robin could see the weight that had lifted of the keeper’s shoulders ( _her teammates could too_ ), so she kept the conversation light at this point. “You say she?”

“Yep. She, her, female,” Hope said shrugging.

“So would you say you’re gay? Not trying to assume anything.”

“No, no you’re fine. Umm,” Hope looked up at the ceiling for a while, “I would say that I definitely love a woman and I have found myself attracted to women a little bit more recently than men.” She tilted her head side to side. “I would say that I am bi leaning more towards the lesbian side.”

“And how long have you been with her?”

Hope stopped and thought again, “we started dating towards the tail end of 2008, beginning of 2009. I would say since July 5, 2009 since that was when we first declared ourselves as girlfriends and shared our first like, lips touching, kiss.”

“Wow, so five and a half years?” Robin asked surprised by the longevity. (“ _That’s a long ass time” Pinoe said before being met with a lot of ‘shh’s’_ )

“Six by the time the World Cup has started?”

“And you’ve kept a secret this whole time?”

Hope nodded albeit a little sadly, “Yeah. I’ve kept my relationship a secret. I’ve hidden who I really loved from everyone except my family for almost six years.”

“Was it hard?”

“That’s not even the right word to describe it,” Hope shook her head, “It has been one of the hardest things to deal with. It was one of the weights that had stayed on my back for a long time.”

“Talking about it has helped.” Robin stated with a smile.

Hope nodded, “It has,” but just has Robin was about to speak more, Hope put her head back down and took a deep breath. Robin sat quietly and Hope, head still down, spoke, “and something else will help.” She looked up. “I talked to my therapist with my girlfriend and we talked about this for a while. In person, over the phone, and my girlfriend and I both decided it was time.”

Robin’s face became puzzled. “Time for what Hope?”

Hope sighed before letting an easy grin take over her face. She laid back on the sofa and motion toward the open door with her chin. “My girlfriend is here if you’d like to me to go get her?” Hope shrugged, “she’s very meticulous with her scheduling, but she said made some time today for talking? It may help answer some questions, but your decision if you want me to go get her?”

The cameramen looked baffled by the statement, looking at each other than at Hope then at Robin. Robin wasn’t confused though, she had a smile on her face realizing what Hope was doing. “I think we would all like to meet your girlfriend.”

Nodding, Hope stood up from her place and made her way to leave the room. Before she left she spoke, “You’ve probably already met her before actually.” Hope continued out the door to get her girlfriend, leaving Robin Roberts, the cameraman crew, and people all around the world waiting on the edge of their seats. A minute later footsteps could be heard. Hope spoke up, “I would like you guys to meet my girlfriend.”

The cameras, the men operating it, and Robin all turned around and the sight they saw shocked them. The people in the room’s mouths flopped open, Robin’s not as much as the men. ( _The mouths of all of the national team members, some with food pre-chewed, flew open. People all around the world shared a similar reaction as they took in who was Hope’s girlfriend._ ) There in front of the cameras wearing a pair of jeans, a gray sweater, and no shoes, stood a tan female with a radiant smile. She and Hope walked towards Robin and she stuck out her hand towards the newscaster. A voice with a slight northern accent echoed throughout the room for the world to hear, “Hi, I’m Carli Lloyd, Hope’s Girlfriend.” The screen faded out with a smirking Hope in the background. The words ‘coming up’ appearing on the screen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote 5000+ words and I've never done that. It must be due to how cute Harli was today at the Ballon d'Or.


	3. The Interview Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The details of Carli and Hope's relationship is announced to the world

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry this is a bit late, but college started back up and I was getting back into the swing of things. Hope you guys enjoy learning about their relationship.

_“Coming up,” Robin Roberts’s voice announced over a video of Carli and Hope, “The history between Carli Lloyd and Hope Solo is shown for the world to see.”_

 

It was quiet in the hotel room. Most of the women’s mouths were still wide open, all still staring blankly at the commercial playing. It was Morgan’s phone going off that seemed to snap everyone out of their stupor.

Reaching down with a slightly shaky hand, the youngest team member grasped the phone and read the message aloud. “Carli knows that this is shocking to everyone and may seem like its fake, but it’s real. The next part of the interview will show that. They both apologize for keeping it a secret, but at the time they thought it was necessary, which will be explained in the interview as well. Basically just watch the rest of the interview and if we have anymore question come to their room.”

People in the room nodded, but all stayed quiet. Pinoe, sick of the quiet, finally spoke up, “So, uhh, that was…surprising to say the least.” This caused murmurs of agreements to radiate through the room.

“Yeah, I mean… like hearing her say that she had a girlfriend was surprising enough. I tried to figure out who it could be as soon as she said that,” Abby spoke up.

“My first thought was this one,” Ashlyn jerked her thumb at Kelley a giant grin on her face, “she has such a massive crush on Hope.”

“I HAD a crush on Hope,” Kelley, blush coloring her face, rebutted, “It wasn’t massive and I don’t have it anymore!”

“Sure…”Tobin, Alex, Ashlyn, Christen, and actually most of the team said in unison causing the freckled one’s blush to deepen.

“To be fair, I’m sure plenty of us have had a crush on Hope,” Abby acknowledge, “You know I have.” A couple of ‘me too’s’ admitted. “Though,” Abby turns to Kelley with a giant grin, “Yours was super obvious.” Causing Kelley to groan and others to laugh.

“Can’t we focus on Hope and Carli’s relationship and not my own woes,” Kelley muttered placing her face in her palms.

Christie decided to her fellow Sky Blue teammate’s aid, “Well, I’m surprised that they kept a secret for this long. I’ve been with them literally since they came on the team and have never picked up on anything.”

“I mean they’ve played the really close friends card really well,” Ali said. “We also thought they were straight, so we thought nothing. The whole fake marriage thing really worked.”

“I guess Jerramy is a nice guy, though I don’t think many of us liked him.” Ashlyn’s statement once again roused murmurs of agreement. “But still, like we didn’t notice any like PDA or like any noticeable clues that they we’re in a relationship. You guys said Ali and I were obvious.”

“That’s cause you guys are,” Abby answered, “but you’re right. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them do anything different then what we would do to each other. Though they do often share a room…” A shiver seemed to go up many spines, thinking about Hope and Carli…

“Either way, the interview will give us some more information, so when it comes on…” The sounds of the interview starting back up charms through the room. “Which is now I guess, we’ll get some answers,” Christie finishes as the teams’ attention turns back to the screen.

 

The show starts back up with Carli’s hand still outstretched toward Robin. Robin and the camera crew appeared frozen still, the men’s mouths still wide open. It took a while, but the interviewer seemed to shake herself out of her stupor and moved a shaky hand to shake the midfielder’s.

“I-I-It’s good to see you again Carli,” Robin’s voice still showing her shock. Carli shook the hand with a smile, Hope’s lips matching. “P-p-p-please have a seat.”

Carli nodded as she turned around, the camera catching Hope’s hand on the small of her girlfriend’s back guiding her to the couch. As they sit, Carli first followed by Hope, a small smile appears on Robin’s face as she watches Hope’s arm go around Carli’s shoulders and Carli shift a bit closer to Hope.

Noticing that the two seemed comfortable, Robin decided to restart the interview. “So from my and my crew’s faces, you could say that we were shocked to see Carli walk through the door, Hope.”

The two on the couch smiled as Hope spoke, “I figured that, but it was time for it to be out in the open.”

Nodding along, the newscaster continued, turning her attention to Carli. “You and Hope?”

“Mm hmm,” Carli nodded a smirk on her face.

“How long have you been together?” Carli gave a Hope a look, “Hope did give us a date, but…”

“You just want to make sure that we’re aren’t lying? Which is fine.” Reassuring the newscaster Carli seemed to think for a little bit. “Well, we had this weird flirting thing for a while and we’d go like on trips together apart from the other team. It was…October 30th when Hope and I finally went on a date, though, to be fair, she had asked me a couple times before and after the Olympics, but I’m a hard woman to please.” This earned a ‘no shit’ from Hope, who received an elbow from Carli. Not losing her place, Carli continued, “It was a really nice date, she had made a reservation at a restaurant, managed to find a really private booth, and we just talked. Food was delicious, conversation was flowing, overall it was great…but I didn’t let her know that.”

“No she didn’t,” Hope spoke up. “She told me that the date was “okay”, but I had to try harder to get more dates.” Hope rolled her eyes at this point. “It was really ridiculous.”

“She did it though,” Carli said. “She left me food at my door, prepared my ice baths for me, gave me massages…”

“Funny enough, the thing that got me a second date was dying my hair,” Hope said with a laugh.

Robin laughed has Carli gave a shrug, “What can I say, she’s more attractive with darker hair.”

“I doubt I could ever go natural, it’s too light for her.

“You aren’t blonde, Hope,” Carli points out.

“I know that, but I’m not a dark brunette. I’m a light one,” Hope counters.

Carli rolls her eyes and deciding to continue. “Anyway, so we started going on more dates. But I would say we we’re officially together would be July 5th, 2009. Hope had tried kissing me a couple times before and had asked if we were girlfriends. I kept saying no so she decided to go all out.” Carli smiled as she relived the memory outload. “I got a knock on my door in New Jersey and Hope was standing outside with a golf bag on her shoulder. When I asked her what she was doing she handed me a club and asked me if I wanted to tee off. So she took me to a nearby golf course and we played a round of golf. I mean like I kicked her ass at it,” Carli sent a grin towards Hope, who scoffed and looked away, “but she tried and it was fun. After that, we went to my favorite pizza shop for lunch and then went shopping. At first I thought we were just browsing, but anything I saw that I said I like, she would just buy it. I argued first, but I stopped because she just ignored me. Anyway, she dropped me off at home and told me she was going to take me out to dinner and to dress nicely, but not too fancy for it. I rolled my eyes and agreed. Fast forwarding to that night she knocked on the door and I was surprised by what she was wearing, made me feel underdressed.”

Hope interrupted, “She said she liked me wearing button downs, so I wore one with a pair of slacks. She also had said in passing that she liked bowties over normal ones, so I wore that too. Also she wasn’t underdressed, she was wearing a summer dress and she looked hot.” Hope looked over a Carli with a loving smile. “For the record.”

Carli smiled back and kissed her cheek saying thanks before turning her attention back to Robin. “Well, I was surprised either way and she handed me some roses, they were thorn less which confused me, but Hope said it meant love at first sight. Which was corny, but totally Hope, so I may have blushed a bit. Anyways, she took my hand and lead me outside where there was a horse drawn carriage, once again corny, and she helped me in and we went off. I tried to see where we were going, but she wouldn’t tell me, so I just enjoyed the ride. It was nice and we just talked some more before it stopped in a park. It was the one I had grown up playing on and there was a table set up in the middle of it and there were lights set up. Hope led me out and guided towards the table. There was a bottle of sparkling apple cider, since I don’t drink during training and a couple of salad. She pulled out my chair for me and poured me some cider before she sat down. She asked if I was surprised, which I was cause… well no one had done this much for me. She told me that I deserved the best.”

“Which she does,” Hope muttered looking at Carli, her hand rubbing the midfielder’s shoulder slowly.

Carli smiled hearing her girlfriend, “I smiled when she told me that and she told me to go ahead and eat, so we ate the salad and I asked her how she did this and a whole bunch of other stuff. When we finished the salads, she had hired some people to take stuff away, so someone came by and took those plates away and brought in two plates of lasagna. It was probably the best I’d ever had. I learned after that Hope made it, it’s her mom’s recipe. She was the first person to ever make me dinner.”

“After that, I think Carli thought the date was done.” Hope said taking over where Carli had stopped. “But I rented a projector and a screen and it was being set up in the goal post behind Carli. So, I lead her over to a blanket that was set up in front of the screen and we watched the Goonies together.”

“It’s probably my favorite movie and so we spent a couple hours watching that, snuggling together and cracking jokes. When the movie finished, a soccer ball came flying out of nowhere. Hope had one of the guys though a soccer ball over the screen so we could play soccer.”

“She did jump a bit, but when I told her what we’re gonna do she kicked off her shoes and put her hair in and a bun and I knew it was on.”

“Wait a second, don’t act you didn’t roll up your sleeves and put your hair in a ponytail.” Hope smiled and strugged. “Whatever. Well we played for probably an hour, for the record Hope could still play forward and take Baby Horse’s spot ( _“She could not!” Alex yelled in the hotel room_ ), but she fouls harder than me. This is kind of when we became officially.” Carli smile widened. “I had managed to tackle the ball away from her and she didn’t like it…”

 

_Flashback to July 5 th, 2009_

_Carli is running as fast as she could on her bare feet, getting ready to shoot the ball at her feet. ‘And here we…’ right before she could shoot, Carli could feel hands grab her dress and yank her back sending the soccer ball flying over the goal._

_“Hey!” Carli yelled turning around to see Hope smiling mischievously._

_“Oops,” Hope said shrugging. Carli glared at the Washingtonian before talking her to the ground. Hope yelped as her back hit the ground, Carli smirking above her._

_Carli leaned down and whispered in the others girl ear, “That was a foul.” Carli’s smirk widened when felt the slightly older woman shiver beneath her._

_Noticing the widened smirk, Hope quickly switched their positions and smirked and Carli’s indignant look. “Now you know however one else feels.” There was no response. Hope looked down and noticed the Carli was focused on something lower on her face, Hope’s own eyes started to shift lower too. They both looked up suddenly meeting each other’s eyes. Hope’s head moved slowly down towards the other woman’s_

_“Fuck it,” Carli muttered and lifted her head till their lips met. Their lips moved slowly together and the only word that women could think of was magical. It felt like hours that the two finally broke apart, both breathing heavy from lack of air._

_“So…” Hope spoke up quietly. “Can I say girlfriend?”_

_Carli looked up and smiled leaning in for a shorter kiss, “I would say so.” Smiling, Hope let their lips again._

“So I would, say it’s been 6 very long, but very fulfilling years,” Carli smiled reaching up and squeezing the hand on her shoulder. Number 10 looked at the goalkeeper and smiled which was quickly returned.

Robin smiled from her seat, not wanting to interrupt the moment, but needing to continue the interview. “So, I know that you have told the world you are engaged, Carli.”

Carli nodded, “Yeah, Brian. He is a childhood friend and we have dated before. We both realize we’re better off as friends and he has always had my back.” Carli took the engagement ring off her finger, “And this ring, like Hope’s is very fake. Brian, and Jerramy for that matter, are really grade guys and I really couldn’t imagine what I would say if someone asked me to be in a fake marriage or engagement.” Carli shook her head.

“Your privacy really meant that much to you?” Robin asked.

“I think for me a lot more than for Hope,” Carli looked away for a second, Hope squeezing her shoulder. “I’m really not into the whole people knowing my business because I really don’t need judgement from people. Besides me wanting to focus on soccer, it is one of the reasons why my family doesn’t come to my games. I know Hope wanted to tell people…”

Hope smiled sadly at her girlfriend, “Stop pinning this all on yourself, Car.” Hope directed her gaze back towards their interviewer. “To be honest, I did want to tell people originally. But the media has so much opinions about me that I slowly started to not want to. Obviously, give in that effects of the decision now, I think we both would have just announced right away,” Carli nodded in agreement, “but the past is the past and we can only look at the future now.”

Robin noticing the somber mood, tried to change the direction of the interview. She had noticed a little mark on Carli’s ring finger when she had removed her ring. “I noticed a little something on your finger Carli. Is that a tattoo?”

“You’re the first one to notice that, Robin,” Carli acknowledged looking at her finger before holding it towards the camera. “Yeah it’s a tattoo. Hope and I got it on our fourth anniversary as a sort of promise ring if you would.” Hope nodded showing her own ring finger, the camera zoomed in showing a small plus sign shape. Upon closer expectation, you could see little letters. Vertically were the letters H, A, and S. Horizontally, beside the A were the letters C and L. “It was Hope’s idea. Our middle names start with the same letter, so we can just intersect them and have our initials. That way we could always have a promise to each other, but have it easily covered by our rings, so you really couldn’t see it.”

“For privacy reasons,” Robin asked rhetorically.

“For privacy reasons,” confirmed the midfielder.

Wanting to keep the light-hearted mood going, Robin asked a new question. “Any other “Hope Idea’s?”

Carli laughed at that, “A lot of Hope ideas. Something that might surprise people is that Hope is a romantic.”

“You’re hurting my credibility as the mean goalkeeper who never smiles, Lloyd,” Hope joked.

“Yeah cause you need my help with that,” Carli jested back. “When we go on dates, she always opens doors for me, pulls out my chair, gets the groceries, and carries my bags…basically the perfect gentleman in a woman’s body.”

“Just want to treat my woman right,” Hope replied. “I mean Carli does stuff too. She cooks and usually in charge of the cleaning. She buys me a new book for every trip, which is really sweet since I seem to finish them quickly.” Hope paused for a second as she tried to remember some more. “Ohh, for Valentine’s Day she got me a new fishing rod!”

“That was after you sent me a gift when you weren’t supposed to,” Carli argued. Seeing Robin’s confused face, she clarified. “When we started dating, we decided to alternate Valentine’s Day. First year was Hope which was 2010. 2011 was me and so on. So it was supposed to be my year to plan the date, but you may know that this was when the team was in England for a game and Hope was suspended. So imagine my surprise when I show up to the hotel door after pool workouts to see a teddy bear with a box of chocolates and thorn-less roses at the door.”

( _In the hotel room, Moe speaks up. “Yeah, I was Carli’s roommate for that game, along with the France one. We walked up to the door and the bear was sitting there. There was a card that said “You always have my heart even when we’re apart… it didn’t have name on it besides Carli’s._

 _“Wow, Hope is a romantic. That’s mushy as fuck,” Pinoe responded as the interview continue)  
_ “Well that was sweet, Hope,” Robin smiled at the goalkeeper.

“It was our first Valentine’s Day apart, I felt like I needed to send something since it was my fault we were apart,” Hope countered.

“Even then, she had just sent me something a couple days before.” Carli spoke up. “First off, I don’t enjoy how hard Hope is on herself regarding the suspension. Does she deserve blame? Yes. Did I chew her out when it happen? Hell yes.”

“Jersey accent and everything,” Hope interrupted earning a quick glare from Carli.

“Yes the accent came out, but that’s beside the point. Hope deserves blame, Jerramy deserves blame, as much as Hope hates hearing it, I deserve blame. Shut up, Hope.” Carli quipped noticing her girlfriend’s mouth opening. “Many people are at fault here, it’s in the past let’s move on. So back to her sending me something. It was right after the France game and we were all pretty down. We lost the game and I know I was really upset since I was captain and felt like I had not lead the team well. It was after our team meeting and Morgan Brian and I were in our hotel room. Usually Hope and I would be roommates, but Moe was it for a couple games. So, we were in the room and we heard a knock on the door. Moe went to get it and then called me to the door and there was a room service guy at the door. He had a tray of food and said that someone had order this be brought to me, or something like that because of the accent. He handed me the tray and left. Moe and I were pretty confused, so I brought into the room and sat it down on the table. When I lifted the lid, there was a,” Carli chuckled a little bit, “there was a grilled cheese, sandwich, tomato soup, and a small salad underneath. I noticed the little card that was with it, so I picked it up and read it. It said…”

“I know how you get after a loss. But your mom told me this will help. So here’s your favorite pick me up meal, but with a salad because I know you need your greens,” Hope finished. The two looked at each other and smiled. _(Back in the room, Moe spoke again. “That’s exactly what it said.” There were a couple of raised brows in her direction. Moe blushed, “I may have read it over her shoulder…”)_.

Robin’s smile seemed to grow. “Hope, you are setting a high bar for a lot of people.” Hope shrugged. “I’m just saying! Nevertheless, both of you do these things for each other, yet no one has ever discovered your relationship. Not even your teammates.”

“I mean like Carli said, we do share a room,” the goalie smiled lewdly, raising her brows in a suggestive manner. That was quickly erased when the midfielder elbowed her. “Ouch, woman! Geez, I’m kidding.” Hope rubbed the spot and pouted earning a chuckle from the newscaster. “In actuality, we aren’t the most interesting couple in the world. In the room we’ll read, or watch a movie, or just talk about random stuff. I mean we’ll go out and hike or fish and stuff, but I would akin us to an old married couple. We do share a bed, but not before game. Carli still is adamant about not being distracted, so no sharing a bed before any game regardless if it’s Brazil or a lower ranked team.” Hope paused for a second before her smirk returned. “That being said if either of has had a good game, well our teammates should be happy neither of us are screamers.”

Before the TV cut to commercial, Carli’s indignant scream of ‘Hope’ is heard, followed by Hope and Robin laughing loudly.

 

_“Coming Up,” Robin’s voice announced from the TV or an image of somber looking Hope and Carli. “We learn Hope and Carli’s side about that fateful night.”_


	4. The Interview Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now all the fun stories stop as we hear Hope's side of the domestic violence incident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it's been over a month, but this chapter was hard to write along with school work increasing. This chapter will focus on the domestic violence incident and like I said before, this is fictional. I do not promote domestic violence, assault, or anything of the source. So please no mean comments. In the end enjoy!

Back in the hotel, the team sat in silence again, not from the shock like last time, but from the stories that the two veterans told.

“Well, it’s safe to say Hope is the most romantic person I know,” Abby spoke up. “I hope Sarah didn’t watch this.”

“Knowing her, she did, but yeah who knew that inside that hard, chiseled, stony-faced body, that is our starting goalkeeper, was a teddy bear?” Kelley responded to the forward.

“Careful Kelley, your Hope crush is showing,” Ashlyn teased her smile widening when the Georgia peach turned red. Muttering a quick ‘shut up’, Kelley decided that she’d stop talking to minimize embarrassment.

“But seriously, massages, home cook meals, teddy bears?!?!? Hope is like the best and cheesiest romantic around,” Pinoe exclaimed before taking on a thoughtful expression tapping her chin. “She’s like if you took the most expensive cheeses in the world and made a fondue out of them and put on the most expensive kobe beef burger and topped that burger with the most expensive caviar and paired it with a nice Chardonnay…” The group stared at the dyed blonde with wide eyes.

“Ok you have described Hope perfectly and made me hungry, thanks Pinoe,” Becky deadpanned earning a shrug.

“Dom needs to step his game cause right now he’s a Big Mac at best to Hope,” Syd agreed causing a few of the other women in the room to compare their significant others to burgers.

“It’s interesting to see Carli so…so loving? Is that the right word?” Abby asked the room. “Like I’m not saying she’s coldhearted, but like if you want comfort she’s the last person to go to.” The rest of the team agreed.

“Yeah, Carli, like they keep saying, isn’t the most open, like Hope just in a different way. But seeing their relationship out, not just their friendship, their actual romantic relationship out in the open, we see a whole new side of them,” Boxxy spoke for the first time. “Being on a team with them for so long, you could already see how close they were. They are each other’s biggest supporters, always there to fight on the other’s behalf, the first one to pick the other up when their down… Talking about this now, it’s a wonder that we didn’t notice.”

“I mean, from what it sounds like, they don’t do anything that would constitute as ‘couplely’ in public,” Ashlyn spoke up making quotations with her hand. “Like the things they described, aside from their dates, they sound like good friends Carli Lloyd and Hope Solo. A lot of those things, preparing ice baths or just watching movies, we do with each other. If you weren’t a fly on their hotel room wall, you didn’t know just how intimate they are.”

“They’re private people,” Abby shrugged, “Always have been and probably always will be. I think I’m proud that they are letting us in, even if its just a little bit.” She smiled widely, many others in the room joining. But it was Christie who unfortunately brought the mood back down.

“There also about to let us into Hope’s arrest,” the captain nodded towards the screen which was starting back to the interview. “Let’s just hope everything after this part will be ok.” Christie’s grim expression made her think otherwise, many matching that expression as they waited to hear about that night.

 

 

 

“I’d hate to ruin the mood…” Robin started before being interrupted by Hope.

“But I was going to talk about the night of my arrest,” Hope’s face lost some sparkle as she brought it back up. Seeing the newscaster nod, the goalie looked down and took in a deep breath. Carli squeezing her knee softly causing the other brunette to look up and gaze into her girlfriends eyes, letting Hope know that she was with her all the way. “Do you have a specific question you want to start off with, or should I just started from where we left off?”

“I think it’s best if you go ahead and start from where you left off…maybe when you left Carli’s?” Robin responded.

Nodding, Hope fidgeted to get more comfortable before she started her story. “Carli dropped me off at the airport for my flight. Usually we take flights early in the morning or late at night because there’s less people, less eyes, just some more time we can spend together without the public judging us. I took my Xanax and Carli and I were just kind of enjoying out time together.” Hope smiled at her girlfriend.

Carli smiled back adding her two cents in. “It was funny because as we got closer to her boarding, the Xanax was kicking in and she was falling asleep on me.” Her smile widening as she thought about it. “Finally there was an announcement about her flight and I managed to get her up enough to walk towards her flight and we said our goodbyes. I told her to call me when she gets settled at her sister’s house to let me know she’s home safe.”

“You were going by your sister’s house?” Robin asked. “I know that you were having some issues before…”

“At this point, we were better than before,” Hope answered. “I had stayed before and it went without a hitch, but this time…” She trailed off looking off camera for a second, before a squeeze from the midfielder that brings her attention back. “Yeah so, umm, Teresa’s house is closer to the airport than mine is. Add into the fact that I had to take another flight the next day, it’s just easier for me to leave my car at her house and take a cab to the airport. Like I said, I’ve done it before, but the end result this time was different.” Hope paused for a second and sighed. “So I had just been woken up by a flight attendant…”

 

 

 

_“Miss…miss…”The flight attendant gently shook the goalkeepers shoulder trying to rouse her. “Miss Solo?” Hope soft snoring slowly faded out as her eyes opened to narrow slits._

_“Hmm,” Hope groaned at the woman in front of her. “Whadisit?” her words slurred together trying to rub the sleep from her eyes._

_“The plane has landed, Miss Solo.” The flight attendant, who has had Hope on her flights before, smiled softly at the 32 year old. “I know the medicine is still in your system ma’am, but you know you have to wake up.”_

_“Yeah I know Jean,” Hope groaned out stretching in her seat. “Thanks.” A sleepy smile on her face, Hope stood up slowly grabbing her carry-on and shambling her way off the plane._

_“By the way, baggage claim is number 6,” Jean called out towards the leaving woman._

_“You’re the best, Jean,” Hope replied not even turning around as she made her way into the airport._

_Later that night, Hope is pulling up to her sister’s house. “$82.74, Miss Solo,” the taxi driver told the goalkeeper in the back. Hope opened her wallet and shifted through the bills before pulling out a crispy hundred dollar bill._

_“Keep the change,” Hope spoke, sleep evident in her voice, as she removed herself from the cab. The driver followed suit, a smile on his face, and moved to the trunk of the car and extracting the goalie’s bag from the trunk. Hope smiled taking the bad from the man with a small smile before making her way to Teresa’s door. Hope rang the doorbell a couple of times before realizing that her sister’s car wasn’t in the driveway. “Damnit Teresa,” Hope muttered aloud before sitting on the stoop with a sigh. Luckily Hope only waited for ten minutes before her half-sister pulled up. Footfalls woke Hope up from her small nap on the stoop. Looking up, blue eyes met brown, though there seemed to be something hidden in those brown eyes._

_“Sorry Hope, I forgot you were coming in today,” Teresa told the goalkeeper as she opened the door to the house. “I would have told my son to stay here if I knew,” motioning to the tall teen standard next her._

_Hope looks between her sister and nephew before shrugging. “It’s fine.” She stood up slowly, stretching a bit. “I need the small nap anyway.” The older woman didn’t say anything and walked into the house, her son following. Hope picked up her things before following, “Same room?”_

_“Yes,” Teresa responded simply from in the kitchen. Hope nodded, more to herself than to her sister, before making her way upstairs and entering the guest room. Placing her bags on the ground, Hope went back downstairs to go get a cup of water and possibly talk to her sister some. Upon reaching the kitchen she saw Teresa sitting at the table, a wine glass in her hand and bottle on the table. “Want some?” she asked motioning to the bottle._

_The keeper shook her head as she reached into the cabinet for a glass. “Nahhh,” she stretched out the sound languidly. “The Xanax is still in my system. ‘sa really bad idea to drink with it still there. I’ll just have some water.” Hope made her way over to the fridge to fill up her glass, not noticing the annoyed look on her elder sister’s face._

_“Sure that’s the reason,” the woman sitting at the table muttered on her breath._

_“What was that?” Hope asked looking at her sister with bloodshot eyes. Taking a sip from her glass, she waited calmly._

_“Just said asked if you need a ride the airport tomorrow?” Teresa lied without missing a beat._

_“Oh…umm,” Hope thought for a second, “I was going to take a cab, but if you’re offering…”_

_“You’d pay me right?” Teresa interrupted taking a sip from her glass._

_“Depends on how much you want this time, Teresa?” Hope countered pointing a finger out towards her sister._

_“$150.” Hearing Hope mutter and ‘of course’ she continued without missing a beat. “And what do you mean by this time, Hope? I’m not going to do it for free.”_

_“I know Teresa,” Hope jabbed back, fire somewhat lost from her tired state, “You never do stuff for free. I’m staying in your guest room for less than 12 hours and you want 60 bucks. Drive me to the airport is $150, basically doubled what I paid for the friggin’ cabbie. Brian picked me from the airport for free and my own sister always charging me money.” Hope noticed the look on the older woman’s face when she said Brian. “And there’s the look again. What is your problem with Brian?”_

_“My problem isn’t with Brian, Hope!” Teresa stood up at this point. “Besides I’m letting you stay in MY house again, so if you’re complaining about the price just go to your own goddamn home!”_

_“I’m not complaining about the fucking price, T. I’m complaining about how you’re always looking for money from me. You gotta job, why you always need me?” Hope placed down her glass._

_“Because family helps family out!”_

_“I’ve always helped you out! I’m just not gonna hand our money, you’re not a charity! If a guy who isn’t even related to me doesn’t ask me for money, why is my sister?”_

_“Stop comparing me to the spineless man!” Teresa slammed her hand on the table. “Any guy who lets you take his woman is fucking shameful human.”_

_“I didn’t take Carli from him.” Hope glared hotly at her sister._

_“Oh that’s right, you love her,” Teresa mocked. “And she loves you’re fucked up ass too. I don’t know why. You’re fucked up, that woman is fucked up, and that whole relationship is fucked up!” Teresa stepped closer at each statement until she was basically nose to nose with her taller sibling. Hope’s fist clenched and Teresa noticed. “What are you gonna do, huh Hope? Go ahead punch me cause that will prove that you’re a sane, logical person!”_

_“I’m not giving you that satisfaction,” Hope responded evenly, taking a step away from her sister. “You’re not worth it.” This caused Teresa’s face to clench with anger. “I’m not ruining my life on fighting with you! I’ll go home because I don’t have to put up with this mess!” Hope turned quickly and pulled out her phone. “I’ll call Jerramy and have him pick me up or something.” She went to make a call before noticing she had no signal. Muttering under breath, Hope walked out the front door to make the phone call. What she didn’t see was her sister picking up her own phone._

_“Thanks for doing this Jer…Money is always an issue, probably always will be…I know it may be smart to just to do that, but she’s still my sist… fine half-sister…Okay Jer, I’ll be outside waiting I just need to grab my stuff…I’ll be safe…Okay and sorry for waking you up…yeah see you soon,” Hope hung up with a sigh. Jerramy was trying to get her to cut her ties with Teresa, and given what happened ten minutes ago, it was tempting. Muttering a bit to herself, Hope made her way back into the house. The tension was palpable when she walked. Looking around quietly, she made her way to the steps only to be met with her sister._

_“What are you doing here? I want you out of MY house and I want you out NOW!” The shorter woman screamed at the other._

_“I will went I get my stuff,” Hope responded calmly, trying to go around her sister._

_“No point, the police will be here soon to arrest your ass!” Teresa smirked seeing Hope’s body tense up in anger._

_“What the fuck Teresa!” Hope screamed incredulously. “What the fuck have I done?”_

_“I don’t know trespassing, assault…take your pick!”_

_“Are you kidding me right now? I have not even touched you and I’ll get off your fucking property if you let me get my stuff.” Hope once again moved to get her stuff, only to be blocked by her sister again. “Seriously what do you want?” Hope screamed out sick of being in this situation again._

_“Money!”_

_“Of FUCKING COURSE!” Hope yelled back finally snapping. “I’m not giving you shit Teresa. I wouldn’t give you my shit, it’s worth more than you and your fucking son.”_

_“Don’t bring him into this!”_

_“You’re broke ass already did! He’s a big boy, maybe if he got a job instead of doing all the theatre shit you wouldn’t be asking me every damn second for a dollar or two!”_

_“I told you to leave him out of it” The older woman pushed at Hope, not moving the stronger woman even an inch. “Just get the fuck out of my house!”_

_“How many times do I have to tell you this? Give me my stuff and I’ll fucking go.” Teresa once again pushed Hope. “And stop pushing me!” She’s pushed again. “I swear to fucking God Teresa!” Another push. Finally Hope had enough, all niceness went out the window, and pushed the other woman into the wall next to them. “I said STOP!” Just as she was letting go of her sister, the goalkeeper felt a pain erupt from the top of her head. Letting go, Hope grabbed her head and turned around to meet the eyes of her sizeable. “What the hell!”_

_“Keep your hands off my mother!” The large teen yelled, holding the broken stick in his hands._

_“I was just getting her out of my way man. Just let me fucking go!” Hope tried to push past her nephew only to be pushed back, his hands on her shoulders. “Again with the pushing! Just let me go,” Hope smacked the hands of her shoulders. “I don’t fucking care anymore about you people. I wanna fucking leave so let me.” Yelling at her nephew who still was in her way._

_“Not until the police come and arrest your psychotic ass!” Her nephew yelled back._

_Hope scoffed, “If I’m psychotic, than your mother is a fucking sociopath! I don’t need her and her pussy ass son getting me arrested because they’re to fucking incompetent to survive on their own.” Before Hope knew it, a punch came flying at her. She managed to dodge most of it, reactions slowed by the Xanax and the blow to the head, before retaliating with her own, hitting the boy in his nose. The boy once again swung again, only to be hit in the jaw. “Stop trying to hit me, you’re not good enough to do it!” Hope screamed back before her nephew decided to use his size to his advantage and grab his aunt._

_Hope continued to fight against the hold calling, him all sorts of names as he held her to the ground. Ears perked upon hearing sounds of sirens._

_“Let her go, son,” Teresa spoke, “The police are here now.” After being able to stand, Hope shook her head in disgust before heading to the living room, deciding getting away from her family and waiting for the police may be her best option. Sitting quietly, the goalie listened as her family told their side of the story. She stayed calm as her sister went on about her showing up her drunk, drinking wine, punch her in the face. She stayed calm while her nephew made her out to be a psycho. Despite the fiery anger that was raging within her gut, her head told her to stay calm. Her head also told her that things weren’t going to go her way, when the police officers walked in judgement and condemnation in their eyes…_

 

 

 

“As you can probably tell my side of the story didn’t go well,” Hope smiled ruefully as Carli rubbed her knee affectionately. “I tried to tell them what happened, the police that is, but they kept interrupting me, kept asking if I had been drinking. Before I could even start, they had made their decision. I won’t lie and say I was completely cordial because after being judge so fast, I lost my temper. They stood me up and put me in handcuffs and all I could do was proclaim my innocence. Then when I saw my sister and nephew’s faces…well words started spewing out.”

Robin took a second, letting the information sink in. “What happened after that, Hope?”

“Well I yelled, they took me to jail, yelled some more, then they made me take a sobriety test.”

“Which you passed.”

“With flying colors,” Hope spoke honestly. “But colors weren’t the only thing flying at this point.” Hope gave a sarcastic laugh. “Oh I don’t know how I kissed my mother after the words that flew out of my mouth that night.” A small sad smile appeared on Carli and Robin’s face at her statement. “I was placed in a cell and stayed there over the weekend. I had to beg to get my one phone call.”

“Am I right to guess that the call was to Carli?” Robin asked rhetorically.

“I had been worried when I didn’t hear from Hope,” Carli spoke up. “She would usually call me within the hour of landing. I’d usually be asleep by then, she’d call, we’d have a minute conversation, and then she’d send me off to bed. But when the hour passed and I didn’t get a call, my body didn’t let me sleep. It wasn’t until about 6 o’clock my time that I had heard from her.”

“And what did she say?”

At this point, Carli looked like she need a second. She looked down hoping to hide her eyes from the world, but her mic picked up her sniffing. Robin’s eyes softened upon hearing the sniffing and did so further when Hope turned towards her girlfriend. The goalie’s toned arm tightened around the midfielder and she moved her head down toward Carli’s. “It’s ok, babe,” Hope’s whispered voice was somewhat picked up by the mics, but subtitles displayed on the TV screen for viewers. “I’m here now and it’s not going to happen again, ok?” Carli nodded. “I’m ok…we’re ok. We’re in this together.” Squeezing slightly, Hope let go and Carli looked up, wiping her slightly red eyes.

“Sorry about that,” the New Jerseyan apologized. “When Hope was finally able to call… well first I yelled a lot. I was hysterical to say the least and kept asking her why she didn’t call earlier, did she know how worried I was, and did she know I was about two seconds away from booking a flight to Kirkland. She let me go on for probably about five minutes…”

 

 

 

_“I mean goddamn it Hope! I thought you had been raped and killed! I thought that you got killed in an accident! I thought…”_

_“Carli,” Hope’s soft voice interrupted her girlfriend’s going on eight minute long rant. “Please stop for a second.”_

_“Stop for a second? Stop for a second! Did you even think to stop for a second to call me? Could you not stop and say ‘Hey Car, I’m here’ or even a fucking test! I’ve been worried sick and all you’re telling me to STOP! I should fucking tell you to stop and…”_

_“I’m in jail, Car,” Hope interrupted abruptly._

_Carli clammed up at that. It took her a few moments, looking much like a fish, before she spoke. “W-w-what?”_

_Hope sighed before reiterating, “I’m in jail.” Her voice was filled with defeat waiting for Carli to ask her how._

_“H-h-how? I mean you were just supposed to be at your sister’s…” Carli’s thoughts trailed off as realization kicked in. “Hope, what happened between you and your sister?” Being met with silence Carli got frustrated. “Hope! What happened?”  
“We got into a fight and she called the police on me,” Hope explained the basics of the case, but that didn’t help soothe her girlfriend in the slightest._

_“I fight, really Hope?” the midfielder screamed into the phone. “I told you that woman was bad news and to just stay the fuck away from her. But do you listen? NO!”_

_“What do you want, Car, a fuckin’ you were right?” Hope’s frustration over the situation and her girlfriend’s attitude showing. “You want a ‘I should have listened to you’? Because guess what you were right and I was wrong and when I tried to fucking leave she wouldn’t let me. Her big ass son pinned me to the ground so I couldn’t leave. So maybe instead of criticizing me, you wait to hear the whole fucking story, huh Car!”_

_Hearing that, and an anger that has never been directed at her before, Carli calmed down. “God, Hope…I’m so sorry, it was just…I was worried and…”_

_“Babe,” Hope interrupting, “its fine, the whole situation is frustrating and it just got the best of us for a while. I… I had to beg for my phone call. I wanted to tell you…”_

_“Hope,” Carli interrupting this time. “I believe you.”_

_“That’s one person,” Hope muttered quietly so the officers didn’t overhear._

_“Do you know what their charging you with?”_

_“No, I won’t have my hearing until Monday… Fucking Shit!” Hope erupted suddenly. “I’m going to be stuck here until then, what am I going to tell the team? When this gets out to the goddamn media…fuck, fuck, fuck…”_

_“Babe, I’m going to need you to calm down for a second,” Carli tried to calm down the older woman. “When I get off the phone with you, I’ll let Laura know and I’ll call Sunil and let them know the situation. We can do this. And I know you’re going to say that this is just you battle, but it’s not Hope. We’ve been together for basically 5 years in a couple weeks. Your fight is my fight, no matter what. We have each other’s back through thick and thin and don’t you forget that.”_

_Though she couldn’t see it, Carli could feel Hope’s smile. “Thank you babe. I swear I’ll call you and tell you everything.” Hope heard the officers telling her that time was up. “I have to go, but…God I love you, Carli Lloyd. “_

_“I love you too, Hope Solo,” Carli responded in kind._

 

 

 

“I think you know the rest of the story,” Carli concluded. “Hope was charged with two counts of misdemeanor assault. It didn’t help that her nephew was 17 then, but ultimately they dismissed. I was hoping that would clear everything, but,” Carli shook her head in disgust, “people still think Hope is this horrible person, this child abuser. It just…frustrates me. Her name is just always raked through the mud.” Hope smiled sadly at Carli’s frustration and comforted her softly, kissing the midfielder softly on her temple.

The newscaster smiled softly as the woman concluded, “I can tell it must have been difficult for both of you. Everything we heard, we being the public…well you looked guilty, Hope.”

The keeper nodded in agreement. “I know. All the initial information made it sound like I was the aggressor, that my sister and nephew were the victims. And I’m not here to say that I was the victim that night because no one was. There were things I could have done differently, like wait for the police to come to get my stuff, but I wasn’t thinking straight, and there are things they could have done better, but they weren’t thinking straight either. No one is innocent and feel like the court saw that when they dismissed the case.”

Robin nodded before asking her asking her final question before the commercial, “What did you want to get out of this? Telling the public about that night that is.”

“Honestly,” Hope started. “I just want everyone to know the truth, or at the very least, my side of the story. I want the public to have more information about what happened that night. I was sick of my name being tarnished while my sister and nephew got off scot free. I’m not asking that they are shunned, I’m asking that the public hold judgement until all the evidence is out. There is a reason I was not suspended by US soccer or my team, so don’t make assumptions.” Hope feeling herself getting heated, stopped before finishing her thoughts. “In the end, I didn’t come here to proclaim my complete innocence or their complete guilt. I don’t want anyone to get in trouble, I want this all to stop. I want all the name calling, the mud-raking, the accusations, and the judgements to stop. I just want that mess to go away and I want to focus on the rest of my life….” The screen fades the black with Robin nodding while Carli and Hope sit calmly on the couch.

 

 

 

_“Coming up,” Robin’s voice echoes on the screen. “The conclusion and final thoughts of this interview.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One last little piece of the interview left and then the team reacts.


	5. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The closing comments of the interview and the team talks to Harli.

It was quiet amongst the US national team. The truth, or Hope’s side of the story at the very least, had been revealed to the team and the world as a whole. Different feelings filled the women, anger, shock, sadness, disbelief, and everything in between. The story the news had announced seemed so cut and dry, Teresa and her son were the victims of Hope’s attack. Now it’s so much more, it’s a story of a long-standing family battle. An argument over money, one that some of her teammates have gone through, but have not talked about. The fight between family members, both close and distant relatives, over how they are owed some sort of monetary value for being in their lives. But even then, the argument just appears to be more deeply rooted than money, so deeply rooted that the Solo family would have to right a 500-page novel to just get past the surface.

“It’s safe to say that my respect for Hope has gone through the roof,” Ashlyn announced to the room. “I hate dealing with people who think their entitled to shit and the way she handled her family…”Ashlyn shook her head, “I just wanna slap those two with a fish.”

“Let’s refrain from that, dear,” Ali said. “But hearing Hope’s side really does tell more of the story then what the news said.”

“It makes more sense why her case was dismissed,” Becky voiced. “Also makes sense why she’s been so pissed off about the public hating on her.”

“Her and Carli both,” Moe pointed out. “You guys were around her after the incident, I think I still have a couple cleat marks from her slide tackles.”

“I still have one from when she stepped on me,” Alex muttered under her breath. “She wasn’t the best to be around to say the least.”

“But the interviewed really showed why,” Abby countered. “I mean…Carli…like Carli Lloyd, cried. I mean she cried after the World Cup, but like…”

“Those were tears we had never seen before,” Christie finished. The group nodded in agreement with their captain. “I think a lot of us were upset, but maybe more about that Hope had done something again to put our team in jeopardy. Carli, being around that, was frustrated that we felt that way and lashed out through soccer. We owe them both an apology, for making judgements before we knew the whole story.”

“We’re at the end of the interview, so we’ll do so soon enough. Hope has taken a lot of shit of the years and she deals with it. She may speak her mind from time to time, but she could definitely have unleashed on us at any moment. She really does deserve to hear from us that we appreciate all she does for us and that she has our full support for here on out.” Abby finished her thought as the others in the room agreed. The sounds of the interview starting back up echoed through the room. “Let’s see what else these two knuckleheads have to say.” The focus turned back to the last part of Hope’s interview.

 

 

 

“Well it looks we have about ten or so minutes left,” Robin noticed. “It’s safe to say that you have gone through a lot, both of you have.” Robin edited a bit, causing the women in front of her to smile. “It must have been tough to stick through it all.”

“It has,” Hope spoke first. “It’s been rough and there were times that I just wanted to just say... I can’t curse can I?” Robin shook her head. “well there were time were I just wanted to quit, to just walk away from it, to just disappear to like some cabin in Washington with my dogs and just forget the world. Forget people and their judgement, forget the media, forget soccer…”

“What stopped you?” Robin asked honestly. “There were plenty of times where I, if I were in your shoes, would have quit. What stopped you from just leaving?”

“Multiple things,” Hope responded. “One being the obvious one of wanting a World Cup. My first World Cup I lose out because of a coach’s decision, one that I still disagree with, but regret my timing and my phrasing of my statements, but I digress. The second World Cup, I’m coming off of surgery that basically put my arm back on my body and rebuilding my shoulder. This upcoming world cup, I’m the best I could be physically and probably mentally and emotionally because of this interview. Second, my mom didn’t raise a quitter. I have not quit on anything before and I’m sure not going to start now. Third…well I’m not going to let my team down.” Hope smiled and turn towards Carli with a smile, squeezing the midfielder’s knee lovingly. “I’m not going to let this girl down just because life is hard. This sport, this team, this girl,” the goalie’s smile widened, “mean too much to me for me to quit. I’m not leaving when I haven’t given my all to soccer. Despite not wanting to be, I am a leader on this team and a leader does not leave their team high and dry and times get tough, they help lead them through it. And, Carli and I promised each other after the 2007 World Cup, that we would not leave this team until we had held up a World Cup trophy.”

“It’s funny thinking about it,” Carli interjected, “I think we talk about the World Cup more than anything. Buying house, getting married, starting a family even.” Carli and Hope laughed a little at the statement.”

“It’s interesting you bring that up, Carli. Because I mean, it’s been five going on six years, no engagement, no marriage,” Robin asked with a hint of humor in her voice.

“I mean it’s not like we haven’t talked about it before,” Carli answered quickly. “We want to get married and start a family together. I’m 32, Hope’s 33, we know that out quote-unquote window of opportunity is closing. But we both have so much more soccer to play, the world has not seen the best of either of us we feel.” Carli motioned between herself and Hope. “At the moment we fill incomplete, we have Olympic gold, two in fact,” the midfielder smiled a bit when Hope muttered a ‘thanks to you’. This led to Carli bumping shoulders with her girlfriend, “Hey that one save against Marta was one of the best.” Earning a smile from the keeper. “Anyway we have that, we have tons of tournament trophies, we have a bronze medal, a silver medal, this woman next me has enough golden gloves I’m sure to have its own room. But we want that gold medal. Then we can focus on all the other things, but even then we have to somehow actually live together in the same state.”

“To put it simply, we will get married. We know we love each other, we just don’t have the rings to show it. But we will, when we’ve felt like we have finished what we started and then the world, or at least parts of it, will know,” Hope said with a smile.

“Do you feel as though making this announcement now, just a few months before the World Cup, may become a distraction?” Robin asked the question, not because she felt like it would be, but because people would be asking that question.

“I feel like I’ve been a distraction since I started back in 2000,” Hope joked earning an elbow from Carli. “In actuality, if this is a distraction then we weren’t ready to compete to being with.”

Carli nodded in agreement before adding in. “As an athlete you’re always criticized, both on and off the field. During games, we can see funny posters, posters of support, words of encouragement and those are awesome. But we definitely hear plenty of jeers, telling us we’re not good, that we will never be as good as the 99 team, and plenty more things with more vulgar words have been spewed in our direction. It’s a part of playing the game and taking over the spots and numbers of the players before you. It’s up to you to prove your worth no matter people say.”

“After 2007, coming back and hearing everyone against me, the fans, the media, some of my teammates, was one of the hardest things to deal with,” Hope admitted. “I still can’t be in a meeting if we’re going to be talking in a circle, my anxiety kicks in. Anyway, it was big shoes to fill being named the number one on the depth chart, having the number one on my back, it’s a scary experience and people were not nice about it. Compared to that whole experience, this is not a distraction. Was it hard coming to the decision to have this interview, to let the whole world know about our relationship? Yes. But in the end, not doing it would have been more of a distraction then now.”

“To add on to that, I don’t think people are going to see much of anything different,” Carli shrugged while Hope nodded along. “We’re not one of those touchy feely couples, mine and Hope’s family can attest to that. Our teammates can expect the same introverted, to themselves people with the occasional and rare moments of PDA, nothing more.”

“Though this is all out in the open now, we’re still private people,” Hope started where the midfielder ended. “If we want to share things, we will. If we don’t, we won’t and asking will be like pulling teeth. We know that the media is about to have a field day with this.” The Washingtonian stopped and looked at the woman sitting next to her. The other woman returned her gaze with a soft smile. “But we’re ready for it. The first couple days will be rough…but for the betterment of the team…for the greater chance of winning the World Cup…”

“For the chance of Hope to finally feel free,” Carli interrupted with a smile.

Hope nodded with a smile, “for the chance that I will feel more free than I have in almost ten years…this needed to be said, our relationship needed to be out there.”

“The truth will set you free,” Carli said with a grin.

“The truth will set you free,” Hope repeated a grin also on her face.

“It will indeed,” Robin agreed with a matching smile. “Well I think this is a good place to stop. I want to thank you both for allowing us to do this interview. I know it was tough to make the decision to talk about the domestic violence situation as well as your relationship. But I at the very least believe that your decision was a great one and you not only helped your team, but also others have had similar issues to your own.” With a smile, Robin stood up, the soccer players following. “Thank you for having us in your home and good luck in Canada.” Robin shook the players’ hands as they both said their thanks, and the screen faded to black.

Just as many people around the world were about to turn their television, sounds of movement played.

“Well that was an interesting interview,” a male’s voice echoed. “Easily the most interesting I’ve been a part of.” The voice belonged to one of the cameramen from the interview.

“As wide open as your mouth was when Carli Lloyd walked in, I’d bet,” a gruffer voice joked causing another man’s laugh to spring forth. It was obvious to the public that the cameramen were putting away their equipment and had left one camera rolling.

“Shut up man!” the first voice responded angrily. “You didn’t look much better.”

“Not saying I did. I’m just saying that you took the longest to put your eyes back in your head after she walked through.”

“And I’m just saying…”

“Wait guys,” the third man finally spoke, voice softer than the two before him, “look over there.” The screen was still black, but people could sense the men looking over. “I think that’s Hope,” the second man’s voice whispered over. “Quick is there a camera that’s still on?”

The sound of movement once again plays as the camera is grabbed, “Should we be filming this?” the soft spoken man questioned, but it went ignored as the television screen went white with oversaturation before focusing in on a figure staring outside a window. The camera finally gained more focus to confirm that it was indeed Hope staring outside the window, dogs lay nearby. The scene continued with Carli making her way into the shot, slowly she wrapped her arms around the goalie, causing the other women to jump slightly before realizing who it was.

“Oh this is going to be gold,” the gruff man’s voice came at a whisper as he filmed the scene in front of him.

Subtitles appeared on the screen as the camera’s mic struggled to pick up on the conversation. “Didn’t mean to scare you, Babe,” Carli’s voice was barely picked.

“It’s ok,” Hope responded in kind. Turning around in the younger woman’s arms, Hope brought her own arms around the woman’s waist. “Was just lost in thought.”

Carli smiled softly and moved her hands up to cup Hope’s face softly, “You did great, Hope.”

“You think so?”

Carli gently brought the taller women’s head down, lips gently pressing together for a few moment. “I know so,” Carli whispered softly. “You were honest, you were real…you were you, babe. Whether or not people believe it, is their problem. Everything will be fine, just wait and see.”

“I know,” Hope reassured Carli, but there was still some doubt in her voice. “I want to think everything will be fine, but you know me. I like to analyze everything.”

“And sometimes that can be your downfall.” Hope sighed and nodded. “Just remember, whatever happens, I’ll be there.”

Hope smiled, “You sure you don’t want me to tell Robin not to air the interview?” she joked.

Carli laughed, “Are you sure that YOU don’t want me to tell Robin not to air the interview?”

“Yeah,” Hope smiled, “Yeah I’m sure.”

“Then we’re good,” Carli answered with a blinding smile. “We’re good.”

“We’re good,” the goalie repeated. Taking a moment, Hope spoke again, “I love you.”

The midfielder smile looked like it was about to split her face in half, “I love you too.” Carli moved to kiss the taller women. The kiss lasted longer than all the other’s before that. A squeal emitted from Carli ( _A shock to the national team members in the hotel room_ ) as Hope picked her up and spun her around, almost stepping on the dogs. Stopping, the scene faded out with Carli looking down at Hope from her position in Hope’s arms, smiling and then kissing the older women softly.

 

 

 

Unsurprisingly, the USWNT sat quietly after the interview. Morgan’s phone had gone off earlier once again relaying to the group that if they want to talk about the interview they will be in their hotel room for the rest of the night. It had been over ten minutes since that message and no one had made the move to go over to talk with the two veterans.

“We may want to head over their soon,” Christie brought up breaking the silence. “To at least show that we are okay with everything and to show our support.”

“I agree,” Abby said. “We don’t want to give them the wrong impression. Like does anyone really care that their together?”

Everyone shook their head no as Heather spoke up, “I’ve been on the team since they first met and I for one haven’t noticed anything bad. They act the same, so if the two of them have already proven that they can be on the team and be in a relationship, well then why should I care?” Many nodded in agreement.

“Then why don’t we head of there and if anyone has any questions, we’ll ask them in their room,” with that Abby stood and made her way towards the door. Soon everyone was making their way down the hall to Hope and Carli’s room. Several seconds later, there was a mob of people outside of the hotel room of the aforementioned national team members, but no one made the move to knock on the door. A small argument of whispers started amongst the team starting with Sydney telling Abby to knock on the door, then Abby yelling back, followed by Ashlyn making fun of Kelley, Kelley being held back by Tobin, Ali slapping Ashlyn, the Meg(h)ans laughing, the new new kids trying to refrain from laughing, and the rest wondering if their team was really just 8 year olds. Christie, finally having enough, knocked loudly on the hotel door, effectively shutting up the group.

Footsteps could be heard from the other side followed by the sound of a latch being undone. The door opened up slowly, revealing Carli, dressed in a pair of pajama pants, a long sleeved purple shirt that featured a small University of Washington logo on it, and her hair in its classic bun. A smile appeared when she noticed the team in front of her, she motioned for them to come in as she held the door open. As the team walked by, they noticed the shower going.

“You guys were taking so long, that we thought you weren’t coming,” Carli told the group of women. “So Hope decided to hop in the shower. I let her know you guys are here.” She closed the door once the last woman walked in. She then walked to the bathroom door and knocked loud enough to be heard over the shower. The ‘Yeah, Car’ was barely heard over the roar of the shower, but Carli let herself in to the bathroom. A few moments later, Carli walked back out, “She’ll be out in like two minutes.” The noise of the shower turning off was heard. Carli made her way to one of the beds in the room, away from the window and say on it. The rest of the gals moved around throughout the room, some standing, some sitting on the floor or the opposing bed. It was quiet except for the soft sounds of commercials following the interview playing on the television. The group had decided to wait for Hope before asking questions.

Not too much longer, the bathroom door opened revealing the goalkeeper, dressed in a long sleeved white shirt and a pair of familiar looking green basketball shorts. Seeing the shorts, Abby spoke up, “I figured those things had been burned after the ’08 Olympics.”

Hope, who was towel drying her hair, responded, “The people who cleaned out my closet wanted to, but their comfy,” Hope tossed the towel away, showing slightly dry wavy hair. She ran her hand through her hair before continuing. “Besides, Carli likes them on me,” sending a wink towards the midfielder who rolled her eyes in response. Hope maneuvered her through the women in the room to the bed Carli was on. Once there she slid in behind the New Jerseyan and wrapped her arms around her, who leaned back in the embrace. A brief peck was given to the younger woman’s cheek, the goalie looked and asked, “So anyone have anything to say?”

It took a few moments for anyone to speak up, still unsure of what they wanted to say to the two veterans. “I think we should just start off by saying that none of us have a problem with your relationship,” Abby said for all the people in the room. “You two have been together for a long time and we’ve never seen it affect your playing on or off the field. So regardless of what people may ask or say, you have the entire team behind you.” This earned nods from the national team members and smiles from the two women she was talking to.

“Thanks Abby,” Hope spoke softly. “It means a lot hearing that. We didn’t want to mess with the momentum the team had by announcing this.”

“You didn’t, Hope,” Alex interrupted. “If anything this will help because you and Carli don’t have to carry this secret anymore.”

“What Alex said,” Abby took over, “You didn’t mean any harm by giving us this information and there is no harm done. I know that it was difficult to reveal such private information and we just want to thank you for trusting us with that. Just know that we will be open from now on if you have anything to talk about.”

“My door is always open,” Christie announced, “Also, I think we all want to apologize for the way we may have treated you after the domestic violence incident. Knowing your side of the story really showed how complicated the case really was. We all have had similar familial issues when it comes to being a “celebrity”, but yours just went a little further. Regardless, we are happy to have you on the team and like Abby said, we have your back.”

“Thanks guys,” Carli responded this time, noticing that Hope was getting emotional. “It means a lot to both of us knowing that… we didn’t make a mistake and we know in the back of our minds that you would hate our relationship or whatever, but hearing it definitely helped.”

This caused the women in the room to all smile. Keeping the mood going, Abby decided to tease Carli, “So I think we were also surprised to see you were such a sap, Car.” This caused the midfielder to scowl as Hope laughed from behind her.

Flicking the forward off, the offended woman responded eloquently, “Shut up, Wambach.”

“Calm down, Car,” Hope said between laughs. “They don’t see the soft side of you like I do. Let them enjoy it for a bit.” Blue eyes twinkled with mirth has Carli huffed in her arms.

“Are you to always this sweet?” Sydney questioned. “Because all this fluff is making me sick. Like damn Hope you are easily the cheesiest person I’ve met.”

Hope shrugged, not even trying to deny it. “Growing up my parents, no matter how crazy they were, always taught me to treat the person you love right. Despite my dad being homeless, despite my mom being an alcoholic, they cared for Marcus and I the best they could. So even though it may be cheesy, I want to show Carli how much she means to me, every second of every day.” Hope looked at Carli, who looked back up with a smile.

“I don’t know about you, but shower sex is a good way to show your love,” Megan said waggling her brows earning from groan from everyone else in the room. “If you know what I mean.”

“We all know what you mean, Pinoe,” Carli dished back.

“Besides, if we wanted to conserve water, we’d still be in there,” Hope added causing Carli to blush and sputter.

“My man,” Ashlyn yelled going up for a high five with Hope, who responded in kind. The goalies both groaned in pain after their significant others smacked them in the head. “Damn woman.”

“Shut up, Ash,” Ali responded. “On another note, we can have double dates.” Earning a smile from Carli.

“We’ll think about it,” Carli said. “Although we’d look pretty hot, Ali. I mean two hot women with badass goalkeepers as dates.” The goalies in question smirked, while Alyssa muttered about how annoying they were going to be in training tomorrow.

“Now don’t let their head get to big,” Abby chastised.

“If anyone is going to make Hope’s head big, it’s Kelley,” Christen piped up. The team looked in confusion at her though Kelley tried to get her to shut up. “Kelley had a poster of Hope in her room.” This caused the room to break out into laughter at the freckled girl’s expense.

Carli, through her laughter, asked Hope, “Did you know about this?”

“Know about it,” Hope started. “She had me sign it for her.” The room was dying of laughter at this point where as Kelley looked very reminiscent of a tomato.

“Well if everyone is just going to laugh at my expense, then I’m going,” Kelley got up from the floor. “See you guys in the morning.” Kelley stormed out, face still red.

“I’d better go follow her to make sure she doesn’t lock me out of our room,” Alex stood up.

“I think it’s time for us to all go,” Christie told the group, meaning everyone stood up to go as the captain had spoken. “It’s getting late and you two will need your rest to deal with the media tomorrow.” Hope groaned and Carli nodded in response. “But don’t worry, we are ready to help you deal with that.”

“Thanks,” the veterans said in unison. With that, the group filed out saying their goodbyes and congratulations, the last person turning off the overhead lights.

As the door shut, Carli sat up from Hope’s embrace and turned around to face the goalie. “I told you we didn’t need to worry, Hope. The team has no problem with it.”

Hope sighed, “It wasn’t the team I was worried about.” A sad smile appeared on Hope’s face, which Carli leaned in to kiss off.

“We can worry about that tomorrow,” Carli pushed lightly on Hope’s chest, forcing the woman to lay down on the bed. “Let’s just go to bed, ok? The team had our back, the coaching staff has our back, our friends and family have our back. So let’s stop worrying about what could happen and just wait for things to happen.” Hope nodded and Carli laid down, head laying on Hope’s chest. Hope reached over and turned off the bedside lights and television.

They get under the covers, snuggling close to each other. “I love you,” Hope’s voice suddenly filled with sleepy permeated the quiet of the room.

“Love you too,” Carli responded, letting sleep takeover both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the end of the interview. This was the last bit I have notes written down for the story, besides the ending. It's going to take some time to figure out what happens next, but expect some time skips and obviously the World Cup. If you have any ideas, feel free to leave them in the comment section.


	6. Next Question

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now it's time to deal with the media/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am done with my third year at college. Hopefully that means I can update this more frequently and maybe finish it most of it before my internship starts in June. Hope you all enjoy!

The sound of an alarm echoed through the hotel room as sunlight shined through the curtains. A soft groan emitted from Carli, feeling Hope unwound one of her arms from the midfielder to turn off the alarm. Upon turning off the sound, Hope, through squinted eyes, scrolled through her phone. Carli finally opened her eyes after hearing her girlfriend curse quietly under breath and sit up quickly. Carli followed suit, a small frown on her face.

“Hope,” the midfielder tried to gain. “What’s wrong? Do I have a body check someone?”

That caused Hope the smile and shake her head. “No, at least not yet. Just… a lot of messages.” At that, Carli moved over toward Hope, and looked over her shoulder, hugging the goalkeeper while she did. Brown eyes widened slightly as the phone displayed all the notifications, text messages, missed phone calls, Facebook Messages, tweets, and everything in between missed over the night.

“I am terrified to see my phone,” Carli said, shifting her gaze to her own iPhone. “I may not have as many messages as you, but it’s still going to be enough.”

Hope nodded before standing up, Carli making her way to the edge of the bed. “This is going to take a while,” Hope muttered trying to decide where to start. “I need to talk to my mom and I got a message of Heif saying he wants to talk about things, so I know I should do that. I guess I’ll respond to some messages first.” The goalkeeper nodded quietly to herself. “I’ll answer for both of us, so you don’t have to deal with that stuff.” Carli smiled and stood up, placing a peck on Hope’s cheek.

“You know you don’t have to, right?”

“But I want to, especially since you missed your morning run to stay with me,” Hope responded cheekily.

Carli rolled her eyes, “Ok then. I’ll head down for breakfast. I’ll get your food for you, so just find me when you’re done, ‘kay?”

Hope hummed in agreement and Carli made her way to the door. Just as the New Jerseyan was about to close the door behind her, strong arms wrapped around her and lips pressed gently against her head. “Love you,” Hope whispered softly. Carli squeezed the arms around her and responded back before making her way downstairs.

 

 

 

“I am already tired of people asking me about Harli on Twitter,” Ashlyn told the breakfast table. “Harli?” Ali questioned around a mouth full of eggs.

“Hope and Carli, Harli,” Ashlyn explained, not really explaining enough for the defender.

“It’s their ship name,” Becky explained further. “It’s basically when you put two people who are in a relationship, or who people want to be in a relationship, and smush their names together. Like Brangelina, or Kimye, or,” Becky pointed between the goalkeeper and defender, “Krashlyn.”

“We have a ship name?” Ali asked shocked and a little bit of horror as other teammates nodded confirming her fears. “Dear God.”

“What can I say, Alex.” Ashlyn started with a shrug. “People have wanted us together and now we are.”

“Took you a long time to finally grow a pair and ask her out,” HAO jested at her fellow Tar Heel earning a very mature gesture from Ashlyn…she stuck her tongue out.

“Anyway, the amount of tweets asking me about how I feel about Harli, is just obnoxious,” the blonde shook her head in annoyance. “Like I don’t feel anything about the two of them. The only thing I know is we’re going to have to have a double date at some point in the future.”

“Hope and I will look through our calendars to find time,” A voice interrupted the conversation.  Carli took one of the two empty seats next to Ashlyn, placing one of the mugs of coffee and plates of pancakes down at the spot directly next to the goalie. “Given the amount of notifications Hope and I have woken up too, I have no clue when we’ll be free, especially leading up to the World Cup,”

“I can only imagine how much you two have gotten,” Ashlyn said. “I was just talking about how many questions I had gotten about it.”

“Sorry about that,” Carli responded ruefully. “The last thing we wanted was for you to get bombarded with questions about our relationship.”

“It’s not a problem, Carli,” Christie chimed in. “It happened when Ashlyn and Ali became official, so it’s not like we haven’t dealt with it before. We’ll probably just have to have a panel or something to just tell the media how everyone feels. Answer everyone’s question in one fell swoop.”

Carli nodded, “Yeah. I think that’s what Heif wanted to talk to Hope about.”

“He’s probably also trying to tell her how to handle the media,” Pinoe mentioned with a roll of her eyes. “She messes up one time and all of a sudden she needs to be taught how act with the media.”

“If we learned anything from the interview, it was how much Hope hated people to act different than the way she always does,” Abby brought up. “She doesn’t really need help answering the media as long as they don’t portray her as a villain.”

The women along the table all muttered their agreement, earning a smile from Carli, “Thanks you guys. But enough about us, cause we’ll be hearing about it for the next couple weeks.” Ashlyn muttered a ‘more like years’ under her breath earning an elbow to the side. “Let’s just have our normal morning conversations.” Hearing that statement from Carli, talking seemed to continue as per normal.

Around ten minutes later, Hope finally made her way to breakfast, phone pressed to her ear. She looked around for a second before Carli motioned her over. Upon arriving at the table, the surrounding group caught the quick ‘love you, too’ from Hope before she hung up the phone. Pulling out her chair to sit, Hope notices the breakfast, namely the coffee, and gives a quick kiss on the cheek to Carli as a thank you before taking a big gulp of her coffee.

“That’s gonna take some getting used to,” Ashlyn spoke causing Hope and Carli to look at the other keeper. The keeper pointed her fork between the veterans. “I know you guys aren’t going to do it much, but you to like actually doing relationship things. I’m not hating or anything. I’m like really happy, but like it’s just weird.” The two in question stared at the rambling women with raised brows, Carli about to take a sip of her water and Hope mid chew of a pancake.

“I think what my wonderful, but not quite eloquent, girlfriend is trying to say, it will take some time to get past the initial shock of you two like holding hands and stuff,” Ali spoke, trying to save Ashlyn. “No problem with it, it’s not going to affect anything, just saying.” The two nodded and returned their eating. The team continued to eat their breakfast, Hope taking a second to tell Christie about how during the normal interview panel will be the time for questions to be asked, and once almost done, Jill went up to the front to speak.

“Good Morning, Girls,” Jill starts gaining the attention of the group. “You all have done really well the past couple days.  The staff and I have seen you all break personal records, your communicating better, this what we like to see. Today, we are going to be outside,” earns a groan from the group, Jill laughed though. “I know it’s cold, so dress for it. Yes, that means sleeves Tobin. Goalkeepers will be doing the normal routine, the rest will be working on shots, fitness, set plays, and the lot. Last hour or so, we’ll scrimmage and see what happens when we put everything together.” The group nodded, so Jill continued. “Obviously, there was an interview last night. Carli and Hope came before the interview and talked to us about it, Hope came down earlier this morning as well. We, the staff and I, have already come to the conclusion that their relationship being out in the open does not change anything in the team. They have already told us that they will remain professional, and they have not done anything in the past to tell me that they are not professional on the field. A relationship should not cause an issue and if someone has an issue then speak up now.” Jill was met with silence for a few seconds. “Well alright then. We have goals to meet. Increase our fitness, better communication, sharp passes, increase shots on goals, even better saves, and all of that means we will win the Algarve Cup, play well during the games leading up to the World Cup and walk away with a gold medal around our necks and a third star on our jerseys.” This earned a couple shouts from the team and a ton of clapping. “Well, with that, I’ll see you guys on the bus in thirty minutes.” Jill left the front and the team all went up to get ready for the day.

 

 

 

The bus to the practice was filled with its normal babble. Abby’s voice carried all the way to the back of the bus while Moe and Meghan tried to get things into a sleeping Sydney’s mouth. A game of Monop Deal was being played between Tobin, Alex, and Kelley, Ashlyn watching and holding Ali’s hand as the defender talked with Whitney. In the back of the bus, Alyssa was arguing with Carli over the better baseball team (Alyssa was winning though Carli would not admit it). Hope choosing not to partake in the silly debate (She also knew she would have to back Carli’s losing battle) instead talked to Julie about defensive schemes, though a small argument about how the Seahawks are the best bird team in the NFL did come up. As the bus arrived at the facility, the gals could see the lines of reporters by the entrance. Alyssa stopped her argument with Carli to poke her fellow keeper. The keeper in question looked at Alyssa before averting her eyes outside once the other goalie pointed out the window.

“Fuuuuuuuck,” Hope drew out gaining the attention of her girlfriend and the blonde defender she had been talking to. “Why are there so many of them? They’re going to be so annoying to walk through.”

Carli stood up and looked for herself, causing a grimace to appear on her face. “Oh my God.” She sat back and grabbed for her practice bag. It took only a few moments for her to fish out a pair of headphones, “I’m glad we packed these.” Hope followed suit, fishing out her own pair of earbuds, shoving them quickly in her ears and plugged them into her phone. Soon enough music could be heard blasting from her headphones.

Abby had also seen the crowds of people. “Hey guys! Business as usually when we walk out, ignore the reporters and head in for practice. They’re going to ask a lot of questions about Harli.” Carli cringed outwardly at the name before placing her own headphones on like her girlfriend. “But Heif will tell them that they can ask it later, ok? So let’s go in and have a good practice,” Abby announced to the group before standing up. The rest of the girls followed her example and made their way off the bus. The word bombardment was probably the only word that described how the reporters asked questions to the ladies. Questions were spewed from every direction as the voices of the media got louder and louder, each reporter trying to get their question heard, For the most part, many of the national team members just smiled at the reporters, some waved, as they made their way inside. Others had put headphones on and did not acknowledge the reporters. The reporters soon realized that they were not getting anything out of the futbolistas, but just as they were about to stop, Carli and Hope walked out.

The media yelled questions out with renewed vigor, hoping to get any information out of the women. None came as the women walked stony-faced, music blasting into the facility. The last couple of women following the couple could catch reporters questioning the two’s relationship, given no obvious gestures had been given in that short walk, but the two continued their walk before disappearing into the building. Smiles appeared at the women’s faces at the desperateness of the media before Heif announced that all questions could be asked at the panel following practice. Once the team had made it in, it was time for practice.

 

 

 

Though there was no question in regards to Hope and Carli remaining professional, the practiced confirmed it. The couple had been a couple for going on six years, so they already had practiced and played games with and against each other for many years. But this was the first time being out and practicing together. Needless to say, practice was business as usual. After basic warm ups, the goalkeepers and field players split off. Little interaction happened between the two groups, but that did not stop some of the players from looking between the Blue eyed keeper and her midfielder counterpart.

With people still fighting for spots on the World Cup roster, people were putting their all into practice. This meant shots were hard and fast, tackles were hard, and fouls were even harder. This was especially prevalent when Carli went down on a particular hard foul by Crystal after Carli had stolen the ball from her. The tackle, ruled a foul by Jill, caused Carli to grunt rather loudly, leading to people to quickly look across the pitch to where the goalkeepers were practicing, expecting to see an Angry Hope storming across the field. They did not. Instead they saw Hope waiting patiently to block some shots from Graeme. She had looked over briefly at the other group, but made no move to help Carli or yell at Crystal for the foul.

She did, however, yell plenty during the scrimmage. Hope, known for directing where people where to go very loudly, did not hold back from yelling at anyone. When Kling missed a tackle, Hope called her over to talk about what to do differently. When Whitney had a particularly nice box out on Alex, she was the first to send her praise at her. They started to practice corners at this point, having tested Alyssa and Ashlyn before, it was now the senior keepers turn. There were a couple times when players did not listen to the specific spots Hope had pointed them to. More than once she told Christen where to stand, then Kling was at the wrongs spot along the post, at one point, Carli was yelled at for allowing Sydney, who was on the opposing side, through to easily. It was safe to say being the girlfriend of the keeper did not save Carli from Hope’s wrath.

By the end of practice, all of them were drained, but in a good way. The gals felt like they had all put in their best effort, no stone was left unturned, every shot was well earned and every block well made. As practice drew to a close, Jill gathered the girls up after the cool down to give her normal post practice speech. As Jill spoke, Carli could see her girlfriend out of the corner of her eye start to fidget. It was obvious that Hope was becoming more and more nervous. Carli refrained from comforting the goalkeeper until after Jill’s speech, but the second it was over, the team watched as Carli slowly made her way to Hope. Trying not to appear obvious, a numerous amount of players, and coaches for that matter, watched, while changing out of cleats and drinking more water, the interaction between the two. Hope was taking off her own cleats, when Carli came and placed a hand on her shoulder, a soft ‘hey’ was heard. Hope turned to look at the midfielder and responded with an unenthused ‘hey’ before continuing to undo her cleats. Carli took a seat next her girlfriend and proceed to take off her own shoes.

“You good?” Some teammates looked confused at the question asked by Carli. They had been expecting a more sentimental, endearing tone, not a blunt, almost uncaring one.

Hope looked back at Carli, who stared back with a raised brow. Hope smirked before responding, “Yeah, I’ll feel better once the media has had their feeding frenzy.”

Carli chuckled, “Well their sharks.” Carli stood up, helping Hope as well. “Now go bathe, you gotta look good for the media and you smell like shit.” This earned a shove from Hope, who rolled her eyes and made her way inside, because to be frank the extra layers from the cold added to how many layers Hope wore already meant she was probably sweating a lot more than other people. Carli shook her head before making her way over to Tobin to talk about something.

“There was a small part of me that wanted Carli to follow Hope into the locker room and have wild sex in the shower,” Pinoe muttered aloud. The members who heard her, turned and looked with a horrified look on their face,

“What the actual fuck, Pinoe?” Abby asked, an image permanently burned inside her head. All Megan did was shrug and make her own way into the locker. The rest of the women continued to stare for a while, before staring back at each other, and a very large chill going up their spines. While Hope and Carli were very attractive people, the thought of them having sex was not the best image to have. Soon they all headed in, some mentioning how they needed a shower, feeling dirty just thinking about Hope and Carli having sex,

Not too long after, reporters had filled the conference room. On the stage was a table holding six different name cards: Jill, Christie, Abby, Alex, and of course, Carli, and Hope. The reporters were becoming antsy, ready to get the scoop on the Harli relationship. Meanwhile, in the hallway leading into the room, the aforementioned women were talking amongst each other, mostly trying to calm down an anxious Hope and Carli. Heif had already confirmed that questions regarding World Cup preparations would come first followed by any other questions, aka questions about the interview and the announced couple. Abby, Christie, and Alex had reaffirmed that they along with the rest of the team have no problems with their relationship, which helped, but the only thing that was going to calm the two down will be the second the panel was over.

Soon the women were ushered in, reporters started to yell out questions as they took their seats. “The women will answer your questions soon enough if you all will quiet down,” Heif spoke up from next to the table. “Questions regards to the World Cup will be handled first, once there are no more about that we will move on to other questions.” Hearing no objects from the crowd, the lone man on stage nodded. “Well ok then, I’ll let you guys at it.” He stepped off the stage as the first round of questions started. Most of the question were pretty general, asking about the new call ups, the Algarve Cup, health updates, slowly the question started to turn towards Hope and Carli, but the women took it in time.

“How has practice been since Hope has been back with the team?” One male reporter asked the panel. Hope who had been quiet the entire time, looked over at Jill.

A small smile took over Jill’s face. “Practice has been just as good as it was when she was away. She still puts her heart out there on the pitch and is always there to help make the rest of the team better.” The other woman nodded in agreement as the coach continued. “Hope adds great competition amongst the keepers and is definitely helping out the backline when it comes to organizing and building up their confidence. She has become a leader for a team,” this earns an odd noise from Hope causing the people to laugh at her expense, “she may not like it completely, but the younger defenders rely on her just as much as they rely on Christie. She has proven to me and a lot of the other girls that she is here to be a team member and leader.”

The same reporter spoke again, “And what about you Hope? How are you feeling being back?”

“Umm…” Hope cleared her throat a second before she talked. “I mean I am glad to be back and glad that I have been invited back. I really messed up and I can only thank US Soccer, the coaching staff, and my team for giving me a second chance. I’m just here to prove my worth. I do not deserve the starting goalkeeping position that is Ashlyn or Alyssa’s spot as far as I’m concerned. My goal is to help my team win a world cup, whether I’m the starting keeper or not. Like Jill said I’ve been helping out the younger defenders and I’ll keep doing. I want to win a World Cup and I am willing to help make that happened.”

Realizing that this was the point where the real question were going to come out, the panel braced themselves as reporters hands shot up.

“Do you not think it is detrimental to the team to announce a relationship between yourself and a teammate?” A woman reporter voiced.

“It should not be, no,” Hope responded. “Like I have said previously, the only thing that has changed about our relationship is that the public knows.”

“Is that not distracting for the team?”

“It was not distracting at all during practice,” Abby spoke up. “Today was like any ordinary practice, we all trained the same way, we all kicked the same way, we all talked the same way, and Hope still screamed at everyone the same way.” This earned a chuckle through the crowed.

“If anything, we now our trust in them is a lot strong because they have proven to us that them being in a relationship has not affected how they play with and against each other,” Christie added.

“But do you not worry that one or the other would become distracted if the other is fouled or ends up hurt?” A different report asked.

“You guys do realize that we have another relationship already on the team, right? Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris?” Alex questioned. “They also play on the same NWSL team and they have never had a problem with distractions. We expect the same out of Carli and Hope and we do not see it being a problem.”

“Listen, nobody on the team has voiced a negative opinion on their relationship and our practice today was not affected the announcement. If it becomes an issue, we will cross that bridge. Until then the two can do whatever they please with their relationship,” Jill concluded, hoping to end any questions in regards to distractions.

Another woman stood up to ask a question, “How do you feel about people not believing you, two?”

Carli raised a brow, “Not believing what?”

“Not believing that you are actually a couple? That you are just doing this for attention.”

Carli had to laugh at this while Hope merely smiled. “I’d tell them that doesn’t make sense,” the midfielder said after her laugh. “I do not like attention, so why would I willingly do this if not for a good reason. All the attention should be on the World Cup and what we can do it ensure we win. The interview was to help Hope remove a very, very large weight off her shoulders so she can focus which helps the entire team.”

“Carli is one of the most focused people I know,” Christie said. “When it comes to soccer, it is her top priority and she would not let anything endanger that. I mean she does not let her family come because she wants to focus, so I think it’s silly to think this is some ploy to get attention.”

Another reporter spoke up, “Well you guys have not done much to show your relationship.”

Both Hope and Carli raised their brows at that statement, though Abby spoke first, “I don’t know that clip after the interview said a lot to me.”

“What do you mean by that exactly?” Hope questioned earnestly.

“I mean, like before practice you didn’t like hold hands or anything when you walked off the bus…”

“Neither do Ashlyn or Ali,” Alex pointed out with a smirk.

“Well I mean, like…”

“I get it,” Hope interrupts. “Carli and I haven’t really done any PDA, not kissing, hugging, hand holding, the normal couple things. We did not do it before the announcement and it probably won’t happen much after it has been announced. But it’s also been less than 24 hours, so give it time and maybe you’ll see some. But when it is time to play soccer, we go into straight business mode. This is our job, or work, and like in a normal 9-5 you leave personal relationships at the door. That’s what we do. Outside the pitch we are a couple, we go on dates, buy each other presents, curl up and watch movies, do the normal affectionate things couples, and we’ll be ‘Harli’”. But on the pitch we are Goalkeeper Hope Solo and Midfielder Carli Lloyd for the United States Women’s National Team, nothing more nothing less.”  
Another man stood, “Any comments on Hope’s domestic violence incident?”

Abby furrowed her brows at the question, “No not really. It’s good to hear Hope’s side of the incident, but that’s about it. The case has been dealt with, so no point in talking about it now. Our focus is the World Cup.”

“What about you, Hope?”

“What about me?” Hope responded.

“Do you have any comments?”

“Umm, I feel like I said all my comments during the video, so.”

“Are you worried about any repercussions?” The reporter tried to push.

“Repercussions in regards to what exactly?”

“Well, you basically called your sister a liar and an instigator. What’s stopping her from suing you or the case being reopened?” The reporter continued to try and bait the keeper.

The keeper did not take it. “Well nothing is stopping her from doing so. I also did not call her such things, you did. I told my side of the story and that is it, people can take what they want from it. Like Abby said, my focus is on the World Cup, not my sister or this incident. The case is now in the past and I want to focus on the future.”

“Is the case reopening not in the future, or at least a possibility?”

“I’m not going to comment any more,” Hope stated calmly. “You are trying to get me to say something that will be twisted and make it sound like I am playing the victim card. I am not, the case is over, maybe I’ll talk to my sister again, and maybe I won’t. Maybe the case will reopen, maybe it won’t. I’m not going to keep playing the ‘what if’ game with you sir. What I will say is that I am excited for this upcoming World Cup.”

“But what if…”

“Next question,” Abby interrupted.

“Now I have every right…”

“Next question,” Christie this time. Needless to say, the reporter was not going to get a question in and slumped back in his seat. Questions to be asked and most were answered, although a quick ‘Next Question’ was said when any question in regards to the incident back in June was asked.

“Well I thank you all for coming today,” Heif announced once the last question had been asked. “We hope your questions have been answered and hope you all will continue to support the team as they continue their journey to World Cup gold.” The women stood up an made their way out of the room.

Once in the hallway, Abby grabbed and started massage Hope’s shoulders, shaking her back and forth slightly. “See we got your back, Hopey. Nothin’ to worry about.” Hope tried to get out of Abby’s grip. The two taller women continued to horse around in the hallway, the other women shaking their head at how childish the two were acting. Carli had a small smile on her face watching her reserved girlfriend goof around with the forward. The media had been dealt with and now they could truly focus on the World Cup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter down and one more before we get into the World Cup. The next chapter will probably be a bit of a filler, filled with the weeks/months before the World Cup.


	7. Nerves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the World Cup draws closer, Hope and Carli deal with things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo!!! New chapter. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it's a bit of a filler. The Grandma Alice part was kind of hard to write seeing as she has just passed, but hopefully I did it well. Enjoy!!!

The months following the interview and panel were pretty tame to say the least. Were questions still being asked about the couple? Yes. Did people try and get pictures of the couple? Hell yes. Did it bother the couple? No, actually. If anything it bothered the media how nonchalant the two were. Reporters would often ask the two how the other was doing or how was the relationship.  Hope would usually just smile and continue going about her day, while Carli would usually shrug and say ‘Why not ask her?’. Needless to say, the noncommittal answers were aggravating. This was especially so when other teammates would talk to the couple and get a response.

 

 

 

**_Ashlyn Harris @Ashlyn_Harris – March 11_ **

_For the record, @hopesolo and @CarliLloyd are the worst people to have a double date with._

**_Hope Solo @hopesolo– March 11_ **

_For the record, @Ashlyn_Harris is jealous that I made @alikrieger blush and she couldn’t make @CarliLloyd blush._

**_Carli Lloyd @CarliLloyd_ ** _**– March 11**_

_I can confirm this. @Ashlyn_Harris @hopesolo @alikrieger_

**_Ali Krieger @alikrieger – March 11_ **

_I can also confirm this. @Ashlyn_Harris I’m sorry but @hopesolo is just a smooth talker. @CarliLloyd you got yourself a keeper._

**_Carli Lloyd @CarliLloyd_ ** _**– March 11**_

_Don’t I know it ;) @alikrieger_

 

**_Ashlyn Harris @Ashlyn_Harris – March 11_ **

_Hey, I’m a keeper too! @alikrieger_

The conversation on Twitter had gotten the public riled up as well as Ashlyn who decided to put in more effort to romance her girlfriend, with some helpful Hope advice. This was one of the handful of social media moments that should the couple known as Harli to the world. There were tweets mentioning a date or event, a significant other presumed to be attended as well. Hope, who is known to post plenty on Instagram, posted pictures on the site that may or may not have featured another person’s leg, shadow, or hair. This obviously caused people to run rampant making many speculations and assumptions.

There was one picture in particular taken by the paparazzi of Hope dropping Carli off at the airport. It was a simple photo, a quick hug and kiss shared between the couple before Carli walked into the airport. However, people went crazy over this and many other Harli moments. But most of this didn’t affect the couple. They still trained at the max, be it separately in Seattle, New Jersey, or Houston, with their teams, National and NWSL, or together, meeting up and training with James Galanis or other secret locations. Nothing really had changed, though their teammates seemed to have fun talking about it.

 

 

 

_Day after the Algarve Cup Final_

_Breakfast was buzzing with energy after not only winning the Algarve Cup again, but also claiming victory, and revenge, on the team that had beat them earlier this year, France. Chatter and laughter echoed throughout the dining room where food was being served. The energy was palpable, the feeling that this tournament victory was a step in the right direction to winning the World Cup. Despite the terrible job the referees had done, things were clicking a lot better than it had in the past year. Smiles were wide, especially Julie who had scored her first goal yesterday, the air was light as the conversation flowed freely._

_Of course, this meant that Rapinoe had no filter when it came to questions. “So, Harli?” The women, who were not sitting next to each other this time around, turn towards the dyed blonde. “I figured after than monster PK save by Hope, I’d hear you guys having rigorous sex next door.” Looks of disgust appeared on most of those who heard the winger’s statement, Carli included._

_“How do you know we didn’t, Megan?” Hope takes the statement in stride. “In the interview, I brought up that neither of us are particularly loud people in public and in private. So what’s to say we didn’t have sex? What’s to say I didn’t rock Carli’s world with these magical goalkeeper fingers?” As Hope continued to talk, the looks on the girl’s face got progressively more disturbed, except for Ashlyn who smirked and Ali who blushed. “Yeah you know about those goalkeeper fingers, don’t ya, Ali? These fingers that know the right spots to hit and curls at just the right moment. And just when you’re bout to…”_

_“We didn’t have sex,” Carli interrupted. Hope frowned and muttered a ‘You’re no fun’ under her breath. “We tend to not have sex when with the team. One we did not want the relationship to be found out and once again privacy.”_

_“Does that mean you didn’t celebrate after the Norway Game? I mean Carli scored two goals,” Syd asked and was shocked when the veterans shook their heads. “Seriously?”_

_“Cars doesn’t like distractions and unfortunately for me, sex is a distraction,” Hope brings up with a shrugged. “You get used to it.”_

_“We’re not saying we don’t have sex cause we do,” Carli speaks up. “Trust me we have some really good sex,” this earns shudders from the group and a smile appear on her girlfriend’s face. “So I’ll be showing Hope how proud of her I am for the blocking that penalty kick…”_

_“And I’ll show Carli how amazing she was for the two goals…”_

_“Later when were back in the states, away from everyone,” Carli finished with a glance at Hope, who winked in response._

_“So who’s top?” This elicited groans out of the women who heard Pinoe’s question. “Like I could see you both being top. And since like Carli’s goals happened first, does she get reward first?”_

_“Well you see, Megan?” Hope started giving Carli a look, telling her to follow along. “We have this sort of scoring system if you will. Based on that, it decided who gets top first and so on and so forth.”_

_“Really?” Megan’s eyes grew wide in disbelief._

_Carli smirked, “Yeah, it’s an incentive to make us play better so we can get…rewarded well. So if I score a goal, I get like 3 points. If Hope makes a save, she gets 2.”_

_“Why do you only get 2 points?” Ashlyn asked, genuinely interested in this system. Who knows it could spice up her own bedroom life._

_“It’s cause I’m more likely to make a save. Plus I get 4 points if I get a shutout. Likewise for every additional goal Carli scores, the points increase,” Hope answered convincingly. “There are also penalties too. You lose 3 points for a yellow, if it’s like an obvious one. I lose a point for letting a goal and a point is lost for a foul. So Carli losses a lot of points that way.”_

_The gals nodded along, buying into this idea while the midfielder glared at the keeper for the last statement. Nevertheless, Carli continued. “There are also some big scores if you will. If a red card happens, then that is an automatic lost to the person.”_

_“At the same time, I promised Carli if she scored three or more goals, she can do whatever she wants,” Hope brought up, which gained Carli’s attention. “She promised the same thing if I score a goal, though mine would be over a couple of sessions.” Carli nodded along, actually interested herself in this system all of a sudden._

_“Shit, man,” Pinoe whistled, “You guys gotta make everything a competition don’t you?” the two in questioned shrugged._

_“But the sex is good, right?” Ashlyn wondered. “Like not that me and Ali don’t have awesome sex, but like the system works right?”_

_Carli and Hope looked at each other for a few moments before turning back to the group with a smile. “For fuck’s sake guys it was a joke,” Hope said with a laugh. The women sat back, blushes adorning some of their cheeks. “Good lord we had you guys didn’t we?”_

_“Well it’s not the most unheard of thing you two could have thought of?” Ashlyn muttered, thoroughly embarrassed, but still wanting to try the system out, fake or not._

_Carli laughed as well, “If we actually did that stuff, I would never have a chance. I foul way too much.” The group mumbled in agreement, still embarrassed about the whole situation._

_“To answer your question, Pinoe,” Hope said to her Seattle Reign teammate, “We usually just go with the flow.” Hope stands up and makes her way to the trash can to dispose of the remains of her breakfast. She starts to walk out the door before casually calling out over her shoulder, “But I’m usually on top.” This causes Carli to, as usual, call out Hope’s name indignantly, the table to laugh at her expense, and other tables to look, wondering what just happened._

_All while this is going on, Ali leans over to her blonde headed girlfriend and whispers something in her ear. Ashlyn’s eyes go wide and asks a quiet ‘Seriously?’ at the defender. Seeing a nod, Ashlyn and Ali quietly snuck out of the dining hall, unnoticed by all except Christie who shook her head._

_“Looks like Krashlyn is about to make their own system,” the oldest women said to herself, before taking a sip out of her mug._

 

The team did not see from Ashlyn and Ali until later that night with goofy smiles and disheveled appearances. There were also instances says when one of the two of them would ask the coaching staff for statistics after games. Their teams pretended not to notice, but could always assume ahead of time who had scored the most points, which would be confirmed the next day when the two would show up.

Teammates were not the only ones having fun poking at Carli and Hope. It seemed that the families of the girls, namely Hope’s, were happy to speak freely about their relationship. Grandma Alice had begun to not only talk about her granddaughter Hope, but also her future granddaughter, Carli. Alice definitely pushed the issue of marriage…

 

_Mother’s Day_

_Jill surprising them with their mothers on Mother’s Day was exciting to say the least. Debbie Krieger, easily passing for Ali’s twin, and Hope’s mom, Judy, had hit it off very quick as if they had been friends for years, Kristi Klingenberg adding her two cents every now and then. Donna Naeher, who was not as quiet as her daughter, was enjoying talking to Grandma Alice who seemed to have endless stories, mostly at Hope’s expense, which caused many at the table to laugh at the terror known as ‘Baby Hope’._

_“Speaking of Baby Hope,” Alice said looking at her granddaughter and future granddaughter. “When am I going to get some new Baby Hopes?”_

_“Grandma!” Hope sputtered out as both mom and daughters laughed around the table._

_“What? You and Carli ain’t getting any younger and neither am I,” Alice stated. Carli couldn’t even speak and instead looked at Hope to respond._

_“We’re not even married yet, Grandma. I’m sorry you’ll have to wait until then, but I promise you there will be Baby Hopes. Right, Car?” Hope looked at her girlfriend to speak._

_Carli seemed to startle out of her stupor. “Of course! I mean we’re going to have kids, but after were married and can get in the same state. Don’t worry, Baby Hopes…”_

_“And baby Carloses,” Kling interrupted earning a glare from Carli and a chuckle from the Solo women._

_“Yeah, Baby Hopes and Carloses,” Carli finished._

_“Well how long till I’m hearing wedding bells or at least a proposal?” Alice asked next eliciting another groan from the women, who had heard this question many times before. “What it’s been almost 6 friggin years.”_

_“I see where Hope gets her mouth from,” Press muttered to Alyssa who nodded._

_“You’ll hear them Grandma,” Hope responded trying to end the questioning. “I promise you that you will.” That seemed to answer Alice enough as she decided to pick back up her conversation with Mama Naeher. The women continued to talk, Carli brought up the notion of Grandma Alice walking on the pitch with her, which the older woman agreed with delight. Hearing the older woman’s excitement caused those at the table to smile widely, Hope especially who broke out into her rare eye squinting full grin smile. Though this did cause Meghan to ask a very interesting question._

_“Has anyone actually met your parent’s, Car?” Meghan questioned. “Like I understand that you don’t like distractions and all, but your mom’s not here today. I’ve never seen anyone but Brian at any games or events. I mean I’m guessing Hope had, right?”_

_Carli nodded though Hope decided to admit something else. “To be honest, I’m not actually sure if the people I met were her parents or people she hired to keep her privacy.” Carli smacked her girlfriend Gibbs style on the back of the head. “What I’m just saying?”_

_After a while, the women began to leave the room, Carli tagging along with Morgan Brian and her mom to give Hope time with her mom and grandma. While on their way back to Hope’s room, Alice stopped causing the younger women to stop as well. Alice seemed to think over some things before taking off her wedding ring and holding it out for Hope. The youngest of the trio looked shocked at what her grandmother was handing her. “When you propose to that woman, and you better, I want you to give her this ring.” Hope took the outstretched hand and took the ring gently. “You can add things and restore and do whatever you want with it. But you remind me so much of your grandfather sometimes and I know he would have wanted you to have this.”_

_Hope stared at the ring for a while before gathering her grandmother in her arms. “Thank you,” Hope whispered. “And I promise that you’ll see a proposal soon.” Alice squeezed Hope tightly before they continued their way to the hotel room._

 

 

 

The Ireland game was not their best as a team. The defense had proven itself, getting in another shutout and allowing really no shots near Hope, who brought up to Carli later how bored she had gotten just standing there. Carli on the other hand had been somewhat upset with herself. She hadn’t done much during the game and ended up getting subbed out with about 15 minutes left. The friendly against Mexico didn’t help matters as the midfielder had not scored or even assisted to any of the five goals scored. Her growing frustration of not scoring had become obvious to the teammates as well as the media.

There were some annoying people, reporters and anonymous people on Twitter, who had pointed out the slump that the midfielder was going through. Naturally those people made their usual comments about how she should just quit, that she wasn’t good enough, but now there was some added fuel. Some of the internet trolls had decided that her relationship with Hope was to blame for the slump, only adding to anger. Her response was to not respond, though there were some passive aggressive posts, but it did not make it any easier for her.

And it wasn’t really getting easier for anyone. Every day that passed, meant a step closer to the World Cup, and the pressure was on. They had been named to the roster and now it was time for everything to click. Set plays had to be accurate, touches sharper, passes on target, saves pinpoint, fitness at its peak, all had to be ready. But the team wasn’t ready for…

“MOTHERFUCKER!” A loud voice yelled out from across the field. The field players turned quickly to the scream and Carli’s body went pale. Without hesitation, the midfielder sprinted across the pitch to where the goalkeepers were practicing. Well supposed to be practicing if it wasn’t for the downed keep on the turf. Carli yelled at the two other keepers who were standing in shock to move out of her way as she kneeled down next to Hope. The woman in question had her eyes closed, face scrunched in pain, grasping her knee tightly.

“You’re okay, you’re okay,” Carli muttered as she rubbed the keepers arm. At that moment she wasn’t sure if she was reassuring Hope or herself. The rest of the team had arrived at this point, all fearing the worst as they saw their starting goalkeeper holding her knee in pain. Ali was having flashbacks of 2012, many other players like Alex, Ashlyn, and Pinoe were having similar moments, praying to all that is holy that it wasn’t a torn ACL. The team stood around as the trainers came to help Hope.

Upon trying to stretch out the injured limb, Hope let loose a string of curses. “Fucking c*nt-licker. God fucking damnit.” Some of the more innocent players (Press) cringed at the words that continued to pour out of the Washingtonian’s mouth. The trainers managed to get Hope up and, with the help of Ashlyn and Alyssa, started to guide her to the medical room. Carli was making her way to follow the keepers in before being stopped by Hope. “Carli you need to stay,” Hope spoke causing her girlfriend to stop. “I know you want to come, but it’s important for the team to have their captain on the field practicing with them.”

“You could be seriously injured, Hope. We promised to be there for each other if the other is injured, plus I’m not the captain.” Carli responded hotly.

Hope motioned her fellow keepers to turn her around to face Carli directly. “We also promised that the team would come first,” Hope spoke softly. “You will be the first to know about the injury, I promise. But the team needs you more right now than I do. You may not be the official captain, but during the games you are, and the team needs to see their captain believe in them despite an injury. They need to see you showing leadership even when things look bleak. I’ll be fine, now go and show the team I’ll be fine. Because if they see you down, then they’ll get down, our confidence will disappear, and then our chances of a World Cup will go out the window. Okay?”

Carli was quiet for a second. “I hate when you’re logical.” Hope smirked. But before she could turn in leave, Carli brought a hand to Hope’s face, guiding her into a kiss. Across the pitch, the rest of the team stood in shock, the first true instance of PDA by the couple. This along with Carli’s reaction to Hope getting hurt was surprising. There had been instances in the past, heck in the past couple weeks, where one of the two of them had be hurt. Back during the Algarve Cup, Carli had gotten a black eye during practice. Hope did not chew out the player that had caused the bruise, she instead laughed which Carli pouted at. Hope said that she would care but, the midfielder gets them too frequently, so she stopped caring.

On the other hand, there was the Mexico game a couple days ago. After Hope had fun discovering gravity, Carli went over like the rest of the team to see if the keeper was fine after the hard collision. Even then, it was the normal check in, though she did ask again after the game. The couple had always shown concern when it came to an injury, but never went out of their way to make sure the other was fine. So seeing Carli run as fast as she possibly could to Hope and to see her initiate a kiss, that lasted longer than others before, was surprising.

The couple pulled away slowly. “You better not have broken or tore anything or I’m doing the same to the right leg, got it?” Hope chuckled in response causing Carli to smile.

Hope looked at Carli again before giving her a small peck, “I promise. Now,” Hope motioned with her head, “go practice I’ll see you later.” Carli nodded before making her way back over to the team.

It wasn’t until dinner that the team had seen Hope again. Alyssa and Ashlyn were pestered by the group for any information, but they had none. Like with Carli, Hope had made the two keepers leave the room, stating that if she was out for the tournament, then they better be at their peak. The team was out at a restaurant for dinner, talking amongst themselves, though there was an obvious cloud over everyone’s head. Abby and Moe specifically tried to get Carli to join into the conversation, but the midfielder played no part, choosing to look between the empty chair next to her and the door.

It was half way through their dinner that Carli jumped up and all but ran up to Hope who had walked through the door. There was an audible sigh of relief seeing the keeper walk through. They watched as Carli held Hope for a while, Hope whispering something into Carli’s hear and the younger women nodding periodically. Eventually the two pulled apart and made their way over to the table, the goalkeeper with a pretty noticeable limp. Getting closer, one could see the brace around the keeper’s knee. Carli sat down first, Hope pushing in her chair before sitting down herself. The team all stared at Hope waiting for her to respond.

Taking a sip form her water, Hop answered the unasked question. “It’s not my ACL,” a lot of sighs were released around the table. “Basically the slide I did caused my cleat to get caught in the turf. I twisted my knee and the muscle tore surrounding it. Not career ending, not surgery needing, just incredibly sore and swollen. I’ll get treatment and I’ll be fine.”

“Will you be good by the World Cup?” Abby asks.

“For the most part, yes…”

“But you won’t be a 100% will you?” Seeing Hope shake her head, Abby groaned. “You can’t catch a break can you?”

Hope chuckled a bit at that. “It appears not, but this is not as bad as my shoulder was four years ago and I played through that. I can definitely play through some knee pain. The big thing is we need to keep this out of the public eyes until after the World Cup. They focused so much on my injury last time and I’d rather avoid that now, seeing as they are already talking about me and Car.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem Hope,” Abby responded.

Hope nodded, “With that covered, I’m starving.”

 

 

 

Everything seemed to be going alright despite Hope’s injury, and then the match against South Korea happened. The US had once again held their opponent scoreless, something that the defense and Hope were proud of, but they had gone scoreless themselves. They had plenty of chances, but none had hit the back of the net. Sure Alex didn’t play and neither did Pinoe, but who when they were doing to be able to play. They could not rely solely on those players to make plays or goals. Trying to show that anyone on the team could score, not just Abby or Alex or Syd, that there are plenty of playmakers on the team…this game did not show this.

Frustration could be seen on the faces of many of the players, thoughts over some players checking out, others on just not being able to finish, thoughts on thinking they should have lost this game. Had Hope not made the last second save, well their confidence would have been out the window. No one was particularly happy as they made it back into the hotel, each going to their respective rooms. No laughter, no plans for movie night, or late night snack run. They knew they would talk about it in the morning, they had to before they were on their way to Winnipeg. But for tonight, sulking had to happen.

It was about 10 pm when Carli knocked on Hope’s hotel door. The door opened to revel a blonde haired goalkeeper, which confused Carli for a second before she remembered that Ali was Hope’s roommate. Carli walked behind Ashlyn, closing the door behind her. Ali was laying on her own bed, Ashlyn joining her, watching something on an iPad. Hope was sitting up reading in her own bed, bag of ice resting on her left leg. The dark haired goalie looked and muttered a soft greeting to her girlfriend, scooting over to give the midfielder space to lay, which she gladly took.

“We can leave the room if you guys need to talk in private,” Ali mentioned to the older players.

Carli shook her head, “No it’s fine. I didn’t come to talk about anything serious…that’s for tomorrow.” Ali nodded and went back to her iPad, Ashlyn looking over her shoulder. Hope went back to reading, running her fingers through Carli’s hair as she did.

“All of us wearing glasses makes us look like old couples in a nursing home,” Ashlyn brought up with a laugh noticing that the midfielder had walked in with her glasses on as well.

“The way we played today, we might as well have been,” Carli said earning grumbles from the other two who had played. “Not to mention our injured or team is, we walk like a bunch of old ladies. Speaking of,” Carli pointed down at Hope’s knee, “how are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” Hope said moving her leg a bit. “Very little pain the entire match. Just icing it to keep the swelling down. I feel like I should be asking you if you’re okay.”

“I’m fine,” the look Hope gave her made her rephrase her answer. “Ok maybe I’m frustrated because that game was frustrating.”

“Amen.” Ali chimed in.

“I think all of us are aggravated, I mean you took a thrown in, Hope. The only thing that could show you frustration more is you goal kicking the ball out on the opposite end of the field or you showing your forward skills and scoring a goal yourself.” Carli looked pointedly at her girlfriend.

“I was tempted to do so admittedly, but we don’t need to give Jill ideas for the future,” Hope answered honestly.

“Well maybe you can play forward and I can play midfielder, and we stick Alyssa in goal?” Ashlyn brought up.

“Please do not give Jill that idea,” Ali responded this time. “She might actually follow through on it.”

“Honestly, if that will get us goals…” Hope quickly hit Carli. “Ouch geez, I was kidding.”

“Hush,” Hope said. “Your shots will go in.”

“Yeah but when?” Carli questioned. “I mean our defense has been rock solid so far.” This led to a Krieger smile. “Like seriously Ali, you, Kling, Becky has been like this quiet rock, and JJ has really come along so well. Our defense is playing so well, but our offense just fills so stagnant.”

“Things will work out, Carli,” Ali said. “We don’t have to figure it out immediately, but we will figure it out.”

“Ali’s right,” Ashlyn added. “We have so much depth as a squad and we’re easily the fittest bunch in the World Cup. We can do this.”

“The first games we’ll be nervous, everyone will be,” Hope continued. “But I think we believe in each other enough. Our team communicates better than 2007 and is healthier and more in sync than 2011.”

“We’re ready for the World Cup,” Ashlyn said with a smile.

“We’re ready for the World Cup,” Ali repeated.

“We’re ready for the World Cup,” Hope reiterated with smirk.

“We’re ready for the World Cup,” Carli finished with a smile.

_“Doesn’t mean I’m not nervous about…”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wait who's nervous? Will have to find out during the WORLD CUP! Please leave comments they definitely motivate me.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story, but it has been in my head for a while so I thought why not.


End file.
